The Unsinkable Dr B
by Seldavia
Summary: Self-aware Space Pirate Dr. B has found a position as a scientist with the Federation, and Samus brings new things for him to examine. But nothing stays simple for long when Samus is involved, and Dr. B already has his hands full understanding hominids.
1. Chapter 1

Greetings. My name is Dr. B.

Samus told me that it is the custom for hominids to tell a short story about themselves when they first meet. It took me a while to put together the appropriate story, but here it is: I am a sentient member of the race known to hominids as 'Space Pirates'. Prior to my awakening, I was known as 8411-B, a member of the Science Team on planet Tallon IV. I was a technician working on Metroid breeding, and in my work I came into frequent contact with the substance known as Phazon.

After this exposure, I began to question the Others' methods and presence. I could find no one else who had this sentience, which I called my _I_, until I met Samus. Since Samus had an _I_, and she was the most powerful being I knew, I decided to follow her and study this phenomenon more closely. I eventually severed all ties to the Others and allied myself with her, even though she was the Others' greatest foe. For this betrayal I was targeted, and lost my weapon arm helping Samus fight Ridley.

But we escaped. And I was free.

Free to do what, I was not entirely sure. I put this problem to Samus, who said she might be able to find someone to help me.

"There's a Federation space station not all that far from here," she said as she piloted her ship away from Tallon IV. "When I go collect my bounty for this last mission, I'll introduce you to a few people."

I felt apprehensive. "I do not think I would be welcome aboard a Federation station. The Federation has a shoot-on-sight policy for Space Pirates. Even though I am no longer a Space Pirate, there is no way they would be able to know that at first glance."

"I'm aware of that, Dr. B. Don't worry, I think I can arrange something for you."

I was not sure what to think of this, but Samus had put her trust in me when I rescued her from dissection and assisted her in retrieving her Power Suit. So I decided to put my trust in her. Certainly she must know more about the Federation than I did, particularly all the loopholes that went with her particular line of work. I still didn't fully understand how bounty hunters worked, since they seemed to have such loose objectives,; but if bounty hunters could coexist with the Federation, then perhaps I could too.

Not long after, the space station appeared in the ship's trajectory vision. As we docked at the station, Samus pointed to the impromptu missile launcher I had attached to my back. Science Team drones don't carry weapons other than their blade arms, and I had used the missile launcher as well as an Elite exoskeleton to protect myself. "No weapons, Dr. B. You want to look as nonthreatening as possible, so take off the shield too. It makes you look bigger than you really are."

I pointed to the fragment of visor that I had hung over one eye, something I also had taken from a dead Elite. "What about my infrared sensor?"

She smiled slightly. "Leave that on. It makes you look…distinguished."

I had no idea what she meant, but decided to take her advice.

"Here, put this on, too. It's a temporary translator. Most of the translation equipment here isn't built to translate Space Pirate." She handed me a small metal box with a cord that wrapped around my neck, and a tiny speaker that she indicated went into my hearing apparatus.

"Walk behind me," she instructed as she exited the ship. She took off her helmet, but left the rest of her body armor on. This puzzled me; would there really be any threat aboard a Federation vessel that would require her armor? And if so, why did she make the most vital part of her body vulnerable?

I posed this question to her. "I have a certain…image I have to keep," she said in a low voice, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear. "But if I walk around in full suit, it freaks some people out. So I wear the suit, but keep the human face. See?"

"Yes," I said, though I wasn't sure I did.

The first person we met was a hominid, dressed in a brown uniform that had gotten dirty at some point. He dropped his set of tools when he saw us. I assumed he must have been some kind of maintenance worker, hired to fix the ships that docked at the station. He didn't say anything, just stared at us as we walked by.

"Greetings," I said. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

"Dr. B, no chatting right now," Samus said firmly.

"Why?"

"I want to get you registered with the Federation as quickly as possible. Once you're registered, we don't have to worry about Federation guards shooting you down. Most of this area is bounty hunter territory, but there are things even they aren't prepared to deal with. Nobody should harm you while you're here with me - they'll assume I'm bringing you in on some kind of mission - but I can't anticipate the reaction of every person we come across. So keep the interaction to a minimum, ok?"

"Understood."

We left the hangar and entered a main corridor. There were not many people there. In terms of clothing, they all looked different, even the hominids; so I assumed that most of them were indeed bounty hunters. Nearly all of them stopped and stared. A few actually turned and ran the other way.

"Aran!" Up ahead, two hominids dressed in body armor approached us, both probably male. One had an extensive amount of dark facial hair around his cheeks and chin. The other had light hair like Samus and scar tissue running down one side of his nose. The furry-faced one laughed and pointed at me. "Hey, Aran, are you keeping them as pets now?"

Samus had told me not to talk, so I said nothing. "Hello, Damon, Alger." She spoke in the short, tense voice she had used when we first met.

"What'd this one do that warrants bringing him back alive?" The blonde one ran his eyes over me, as if searching for weapons.

"He has valuable scientific information. I'm taking him with me to close my assignment."

The furry-faced one, Damon, jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Why didn't you take him to the brig first? Can't have one of those things running loose."

She scowled at him. "Do I tell you how to do _your_ job?"

The scarred one, Alger, poked her in the chest. "You're getting uppity, Aran. Think you're better than us?"

"Yeah, who saved your ass over in the Naron district?" Damon snapped. "Walking around all high and mighty, pretending you don't know us…"

"Excuse me." Both hominids jumped at the sound of my voice. "I sense hostility from these bio-forms. Do you require assistance?"

"Just talking with some old friends," Samus said evenly. "Thanks for the offer, Dr.B."

"Doctor Bee?" The two men exchanged glances. Then Damon pointed. "Hey, this Space Pirate has a fucking _smiley face _on the back of his head! Did you prank him or something?"

Alger craned his neck. "So he does! You have a weird sense of humor, Aran."

I pointed to my identifying mark. "I used this as a way to prevent accidental targeting on Samus' part. There was not much to distinguish me from the Others."

"He put it on himself?" Both hominids continued to speak about me as if I were not there. Suddenly Damon smiled. "You're just screwing with us, aren't you, Aran?" He jerked his head down a side hallway. "Hey, we'll buy you a few drinks if you tell us the story, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure. Later."

I turned to her as they left, laughing and waving. "I don't understand. Were they allies or enemies?"

She shrugged as we started walking again. "If we were on a mission, I'd trust them with my life. Other than that, they're jerks."

"What are jerks?"

"People that are unpleasant to be around."

"Oh." It had never occurred to me to classify people by the quality of their company. "But I thought you worked alone."

"I do. I met them when I was first starting out…they've been following me around ever since." She seemed inclined to say no more on the subject, so I let the matter drop.

We approached a large set of double doors, with a Federation Marine on either side. They jumped to attention when they saw me, but merely waited until Samus approached. "I've come to see Harlan," she said.

One of them motioned toward me with his weapon. "And what about that?"

"He is part of the mission. He's clean…you can check him if you like."

They both stared at me. "Standard Research drone, no special abilities, missing weapon arm," said one of them. I assumed they must be able to 'scan' much as Samus did. "All right - go in."

Samus entered and I followed. The tone of our surroundings changed immediately. Before it had been simple brushed steel and various other utilitarian metals; the interior of this place had a soft, artificial floor and walls with hewn woody plants used as decoration. A man sat behind a piece of furniture made out of the same material as the walls, its surface covered with a large terminal. This man had dark skin and a furry face, though his fur was much better trimmed than the other man's. He glanced up from his terminal and said to Samus, "Aran. I told you to investigate a Space Pirate frigate, not bring one to base."

Samus handed him a small memory card she had taken from the ship. "It's all in the report, Harlan."

He took it, frowning, and inserted it into his terminal. Samus stood patiently as he slowly read her notes on her mission to Tallon IV. "What's this? An entire Space Pirate colony?"

"Yes."

"What happened to it?"

"I blew it up."

He raised his head with an expression of severe doubt, then quirked an eyebrow and went back to reading the report. "Those damned Metroids…they were breeding them again?"

"Yes."

"This 'Phazon'…did you happen to get a sample of it?"

"Yes."

"And this 'Metroid Prime'…is there only one?"

"I don't know the extent of Phazon's mutative qualities. But I have contacts that would."

The hominid named Harlan scratched his head. "Well…the Federation will find all of this very valuable…I can't offer you more than the original bounty, though…" Something in his voice told me that this probably wasn't true, and I expected Samus to contradict him, but she didn't.

"Actually, I was hoping to ask a favor of the Federation instead," she told him.

He made a short laugh. "Oh, really? Well, you don't ask for favors very often, so I'll at least listen to your request. Can't give you any promises though."

"I need Federation registration for a scientist seeking asylum from the Space Pirates. He has valuable information about Phazon and Metroids."

Harlan looked puzzled. "Seeking asylum from the Space Pirates? You mention a 'Dr. B' in here, but…who outside their species would they employ?"

"No, I mean one of them defected." Samus gestured toward me.

"Greetings," I said to Harlan. "I am Dr. B."

This man who had calmly, almost dispassionately read through all of Samus' exploits suddenly sat up ramrod straight in his chair. "What? Are you telling me _he_ is the defector? This Space Pirate is the Dr. B in the report?" He pointed at me and addressed Samus as if he did not expect me to answer, even though I had already spoken.

"I cannot return to the Others, and have no desire to do so," I said to Harlan. "I worked extensively with Metroids, studying the effects of their exposure to Phazon. During this time I discovered the power of the _I_, of self-aware bio-forms." Samus stayed silent, letting me speak for myself. "I joined Samus in her mission when I realized that her _I_ was the source of her power over the Others. So I assisted her in escaping Tallon IV."

Harlan's expression chanced from incredulous to calculating. "You are a self-aware Space Pirate?"

"I am the same species as the ones you call 'Space Pirates'. But I am no longer part of their hive mind, so I do not consider myself a member of the 'Others', as I call them."

He watched me with interest. "Do you have a moral compass? A sense of right and wrong?"

I considered this. "I do not fully understand the hominid terms. But, I can say that Samus' _I _was strengthened by her endurance of crimes against her people, so those who committed those crimes would eventually pay for them with her wrath."

Harlan gave a short laugh. "A sense of karma, then. Close enough. All right, Dr. B, just what do you plan to do now that you're not longer a Space Pirate?"

"I am unsure. But I would like to continue being a scientist."

"I was hoping I could find a place for him on one of the outlying space stations," Samus interjected. "He has a lot of valuable knowledge, not only about Metroids and Phazon but also the Space Pirates themselves. And the people working with him would be in no danger."

Harlan sighed. "And how do you suppose that his fellow scientists, most of whom are human and would wet themselves if they came within a hundred-parsec radius of a Space Pirate, would feel about taking him on?"

"I will vouch for him."

"Your word carries a lot of weight, Aran, especially in the Federation. But you can't expect people to not trust their instincts."

"Give him a chance. He's friendly enough, don't you think?"

Harlan looked at me. I tried to return his stare in as 'friendly' a manner possible, but I don't think the Others can twist their features into expressions non-threatening to hominids. With a sigh, he said, "Well, a friend of mine has an open lab tech position open on Ceres Space Colony. I'll have Andrea register Dr. B here and I guess you two can take it from there."

Samus clapped her hand on my shoulder. "Sounds good, Harlan. Dr. B, I'm going to get us something to eat. Stay here until I get back, okay?"

I nodded. "Dr. B, if you go into the room to your left, Andrea will take your information," Harlan told me. I followed his instructions as Samus left through the main door. At another desk sat a young female hominid, her hair an even lighter color than Samus', dressed in simple black garments with white trim. She glanced up from her terminal with a startled look, then reverted back to the same professional manner that Harlan had. I wondered if she was used to seeing odd-looking bounty hunters, though she had probably never seen a 'Space Pirate' this close before.

"Name please," she said.

"Dr. B."

"Dr. B what?"

"Just Dr. B."

"Is 'Doctor' part of your name, or your title?"

"It is part of my name."

"Are you known by any other names?"

"8411-B."

She tapped away at her terminal for a bit, then asked, "Planet of origin?"

"Zebes."

"Age?"

"Er…I'm not sure…that is not something the Others recorded…high mortality and high replacement, you see…"

"Approximate age, then."

I thought back as far as I could remember. I had only been in existence for a decacycle before the raid on K-2L (Space Pirates have short immature phases), so I was probably not much older than Samus. "Three decacycles."

"Any immediate family? That is, are there any individuals who share genealogical DNA?"

"Many, probably. But I don't consider myself part of their species anymore." I really had no idea which Space Pirates had shared Pod 64 with me, or which individuals had contributed DNA samples to create it. They did not form social bonds based on genetic similarity.

"All right…I just need to get a DNA sample…" She opened a drawer behind her desk and took out a syringe, then gave me a look of disapproval. "Hmm…I'm not sure how this is going to work…"

"You have never taken a sample from someone with an exoskeleton?"

"Believe it or not…no."

In the end I loosened one of the protective patches I had installed to cover the damaged holes in my exoskeleton, and took the sample myself. Just after I gave it to her, Samus appeared with a small cardboard box. The moment she stepped in the room, the most fragrant scents tickled my smell receptors. "Oh…I haven't had any sustenance since those Elite rations! Not counting the chocolate, of course." The smell was not chocolate, but just as good.

Samus opened the box. "Here, I figured you'd like this. Consider it your introduction to human cuisine." She offered me a round piece of meat, with green and red vegetation on top, both top and bottom covered with a spongy material that looked like it could have been cooked, pounded grain. There was also a yellow sticky material I could not identify.

It was too big for me to put all of it in my mouth at once, so I bit into it. Oh, the flavors! Both contrasting and complimenting each other! The textures! The crunching sounds it made! Just as good as chocolate, maybe even better. It was far beyond any sensation I could ever have imagined. "What is this…amazing sustenance?" I asked, barely getting the words out before I had to cram more of it into my mouth.

Samus laughed. "It's called a cheeseburger, Dr. B. I'm glad you like it."

Andrea finished tapping her terminal. "You're all set, Dr. B. You're now a registered citizen of the Galactic Federation."

I finished my 'cheeseburger' with relish. Oh, what brave new world I had discovered, that had such things in it!

--

Author's Note: Although this fic will make mention of some of the events in the rest of the 'Prime' series, most of it will take place in the 'Super Metroid' and 'Fusion' timelines. There are a number of reasons for this, but the main one is that I don't fully understand how Phazon works (I'm not sure the game's creators do, either), and it was much harder for me to figure out how to include it in the story's plot. Plus, Samus does not intend on taking Dr. B with her wherever she goes, so he wouldn't follow her to Aether or any of the other locations in the 'Prime' series.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all the commentators who left input regarding Phazon and its role in the games. I'm glad people take so much interest in the story! Unfortunately, I still can't find a way to fit it in the story much, at least the way I have it mapped out. Of course, anything can change over the course of several chapters. Enjoy!

As we traveled toward Ceres Space Colony in Samus' gunship, she got a transmission from the Galactic Federation. It stated that a Federation Marine ship had disappeared near a planet called Aether, while pursuing a Space Pirate frigate. The sender requested Samus' assistance in finding and bringing back the Marines, with a reward that was apparently standard for her. I knew very little about money, but it seemed like a lot of digits.

"I'll take care of this after I drop you off, Dr. B," she said. "Ceres Space Colony is on the way, anyway."

"Understood," I said, even though up till now it hadn't occurred to me that I would be on my own after this. I found the concept a little intimidating, but I knew it was not the Hunter's job to look after me. Samus' _I _would lead her in perpetual pursuit of the Others, and I had only met her by chance. "Will I be able to speak with you again?"

She turned to me, a little surprised. "Of course, Dr. B. I'll come see how you're doing at the station, once I'm done with this. It shouldn't take long, but you never know."

I nodded, trying not to show the fear that popped up in my mind once more. I could not say what I was afraid of; there certainly would be none of the Others at the Colony.

It was not long before the Ceres Colony loomed large in the gunship's vision. We docked, and Samus put her helmet back on. I wondered for what reason she felt the reason to look intimidating, but decided not to ask. Surely she could not be fearful too; these space stations were inhabited mostly by her own people, by hominids.

The airlock door opened, and we found a hominid man standing there waiting for us. Most of the hair on the top of his head was gone, and what was left had a steel-gray tint to it. His skin appeared covered in small skin folds, especially around the eyes, which were a bright blue. He stood dressed in a white coat with some kind of rough blue material around his legs and black foot coverings. I noticed he was "smiling", both at me and at Samus.

"So this is my new lab assistant, eh, Aran?" he asked Samus. "Harlan certainly knows where to find unusual applicants, doesn't he?" He turned to me. "So you are Dr. B? My name is Dr. Alan Reyman. I'm pleased to meet you." He held up one hand. "Does your species have a greeting ritual, Dr. B?"

I considered this. "Upon meeting a previously unknown member of the Others, the higher-ranking individual states his name and rank. Then the subordinate is given his orders. The subordinate does not speak."

"Ah. Well, there are several different species here, but most of us are humans who trace our ancestry back to Earth. And our ancestors had many greeting rituals, but the one we use is called 'shaking hands'. Ms. Aran, if you could demonstrate, please…"

Samus clasped his hand, and he winced slightly. "It's said that two humans would do this to show that neither one held any weapon, and was not a threat. Though you're not supposed to grasp so tightly, Ms. Aran."

Samus let go of him with an apology. "But you could be holding a weapon in your other hand," I pointed out. Samus did, after all, have her arm cannon.

He laughed. "You're a sharp one, aren't you? It's a ritualistic gesture, like a peace offering. I don't suppose the Space Pirates have many of those."

"No, but I am not a Space Pirate," I said firmly, and grasped his hand just as Samus had done. He looked a little surprised, but nodded appreciatively.

"Good, very good. Come, Dr. B, I want to introduce you to the rest of the team." He beckoned, and both of us followed him down the hallway.

At the end of the hall we stepped through a doorway into a room full of tables and chairs, with a large view screen in front. It looked like a gathering place for subordinates to receive messages from their superiors. I expected Dr. Reyman to step to the front of the room, but he didn't. He walked up to a small group of people and gestured to me. "Everyone, I want you to meet the newest member of our team, Dr. B."

Of the group, about two-thirds were hominids. That did not mean they were all from the same planet of origin as Samus. Hominids are bipedal, and have similar skeletal and muscular structures. That is where the similarities end. They come in a number of different colors, and the tissue covering their bodies comes in a variety of different forms. They can also survive in very different environments, and were susceptible to very different materials. My existence with the Others had taught me little about them other than where they lived and how to kill them.

There were two other species in the group, Armadeans and Dilphii. The Armadeans look reptilian, and often walk or run on all fours, but their front legs have digits like a hominid's and they can perform the same functions. Unlike reptiles, they are warm-blooded. A keenly intelligent species, they are also equipped with long teeth and sharp claws on their feet, and different factions have fought both hominids and Space Pirates for control of the galaxy.

The Dilphii are not carbon-based organisms. They can take a number of different forms, and adapt to various levels of gravity and chemical compounds in the atmosphere (or lack thereof). Like the Chozo, they dedicate themselves mostly to the pursuit of knowledge, but their sheer adaptability has allowed them to escape the Space Pirates where the Chozo have failed. They have no digits but can wrap parts of themselves around things much like ameobas, and communicate through telepathy. These had taken on a form that made them look more or less like hominids. Neither the Armadeans nor the Dilphii had any need for clothing; in addition to their toughness and adaptability, neither one had any external reproductive organs to keep hidden.

As I mentioned before, Space Pirates do not have expressions, so I had a bit of a handicap when it came to recognizing emotions. Most of my knowledge had been acquired recently from watching Samus. Among the group, I recognized fear, anger, and curiosity, with two or three often mixed together. One of the Armadeans stepped forward.

"I won't allow this," he said in the harsh voice typical of Armadeans that have had their vocal cords modified ,so they can articulate hominid speech. I knew it was a male from the slight ridge on his head. "I didn't spend years researching them to make friends, Alan. I put my life on the line to exterminate the damned bugs, regardless of what any bounty hunter might have to say."

He stepped up close to Samus, and suddenly I realized why she had put on her helmet; it was not for her protection, but for mine. If the fabled Hunter had no issue with a self-aware Space Pirate, then why should anyone else? But the Armadean seemed to have an answer to this question.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't report you to the Federation Council," he said, and I began to wonder if the harshness in his voice could be caused by just the vocal cord operation.

Samus, who had stood relaxed but alert during the entire exchange, turned to me. "Dr. B. Would you please tell the group what happened to your missing arm."

"Oh?" I wasn't sure what this had to do with the Armadean's question, and once she said it I immediately wondered if the Colony would want a one-handed lab assistant. "I lost it while fighting Ridley. He tore it off."

The Armadean sneered. His lip curled over his sharp teeth. "This one fought the Space Pirate captain? Ludicrous!"

"Are you saying we are lying?" Samus asked him.

"I did not lie," I said. "I don't think I am capable of lying. In any case, I can't think of any reason why I should lie."

"Oh really." The Armadean turned to me. "Then what is your greatest weakness in a fight?"

I suppose he thought I would not answer. That technically would not be lying. But my weaknesses seemed pretty apparent. "Well, as you can see, I am missing my weapon arm. Also, I am a Science Team drone, so I am not really built for fighting. But I took this infrared sensor from an Elite Pirate…"

"A what?"

"An Elite Pirate…a modified version of the Others that had been designed on Tallon IV, using Phazon. In addition to the infrared sensor, they all had body armor that was immune to such sensors. I used part of the exoskeleton of one as a shield from weapon fire and hunting Metroids. Also, I took a missile launcher, but Samus told me that I should take it off because it was intimidating to the hominids at the Federation station…"

Samus interrupted. "Would you like to see an image of the Elite Pirate? I gave my information to the Federation, they should have uploaded it onto their Security Research servers by now."

All of the scientists, who had been staring open-mouthed since I began my rundown of the Elite abilities, took little square objects out of their pockets or storage appendages and began tapping on it.

"Well," the Armadean said after a long pause. "I suppose that's a bit much to be making up…"

Dr. Reyman smiled as he addressed the group. "Well, then, do we have any objections to Dr. B joining the team?"

All members of the group shook their heads. Samus put her hand on my shoulder. "I'll be off, then," she said. "I'll come back to visit once I'm done with this next mission, all right?"

I nodded. "I wish you victory in your next mission."

She turned and left. I must admit that for the first few moments I wanted to follow her.

The little group dispersed, and Dr. Reyman said to me, "It's almost rest period, but I'd like to show you around first."

We walked through the halls and he told me the names of the different rooms. Lab rooms. Conference rooms. A room for eating. Rooms for hominids and Armadeans to deposit bodily waste and clean themselves. (Dilphii and the Others require neither.) Rooms devoted to group exercise and entertainment. Dr. Reyman pointed out the lab where I would be working as his assistant. "There are three others that work directly under me in that room, and I'll introduce you individually tomorrow."

Then I got my first pleasant surprise. He brought me into the sleeping quarters, where the others had already retired. "These are your quarters," he said, opening a door.

"My quarters?" I stepped in and looked around. In it was a smaller cleaning room, a desk with terminal, a square hole in the wall I could not determine the purpose of, and a large square piece of furniture that yielded slightly when I touched it. I could not believe it. All this space, just for me!

"What is the purpose of this furniture?" I asked.

He gave me an odd look. "That's a bed, for sleeping."

"Oh." The Others sleep standing up, for only a few hours at a time, and usually at whatever post they are assigned. "I see."

Dr. Reyman pointed to the terminal. "Here is a communication station, you can use it to contact others outside Ceres, but of course you'll have a hard time getting hold of Ms. Aran anyway. It also functions as a workstation and entertainment center. And over here," he pointed to the hole in the wall, "is a personal replicator. It doesn't serve fresh food like in the kitchens, but it's useful if you're hungry and the kitchen is closed."

He stepped back to the door. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night. If you need anything, just use the communication station. Have a good rest, and in case I forgot, welcome to Ceres!"

I slept for a few hours, first trying out the "bed". I did not find it comfortable. I was not used to sleeping in a horizontal position, and did not like the way the soft material yielded under my body. So I stood and slept like I always had.

Once I finished, I decided to examine the "replicator". Unsure how it worked, but figuring it was probably voice-activated, I said, "Er…I would like a cheeseburger, please."

A cheeseburger materialized before my eyes. I could not believe it! Food whenever I wanted, and whatever kind of food I wanted, too! Or at least, I thought there would be every kind of food. I had few things to test it with. I obtained some chocolate and three more cheeseburgers. I thought they were delicious enough alone, but when I put them together…

It didn't respond to "elite rations" , but I decided that was no loss.

I left my quarters and headed to the lab where Dr. Reyman said we would be working. There were two Dilphii in the lab, as well as a female Armadean. "What do you want?" she demanded. "It's not time for your shift yet. Dr. Reyman is sleeping right now."

"I'm sorry. I don't require much sleep," I answered.

One of the Dilphii walked up to us. "We appreciate that you can work long hours, but on your first day you should probably wait for Dr. Reyman. You can go to the entertainment center if you want to pass the time." The Dilphii extended one of its appendages. "I am Rilphis. My companion over there," he gestured to the other Dilphii, "is Atrun. We specialize in chemical analysis."

"I'm Tirza," the Armadean said gruffly.

"And what do you do?" I asked.

She gave me a surprised look. "Heh, I'm actually lead scientist under Dr. Reyman. You didn't automatically assume that I'm security or bio-form maintenance?"

I shook my head. "I don't really know much about the Armadeans. Are most of them assigned those duties?"

"Yeah, even though most of them can do better. " She motioned for me to follow her. "Here's your lab station, but we've got nothing to give you yet. Do you recognize all the tools? I don't know what Space Pirates use."

I examined the machinery and glassware. "I can determine the purpose of all these things," I answered. "They are different, yes, but not greatly."

Giving me a calculating look, she asked, "Do you have an ethics code?"

Puzzled, I replied, "I don't know what you mean."

"I figured Space Pirates wouldn't have a code of ethics. Here, you can look this over," she said as she gave me one of the square objects the others had used to look up Elite Pirates on the Federation servers. "The Ceres Ethics Code is stored here, see? It's essentially a set of rules. You understand rules, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Okay. You have to follow the ethics rules if you want to work here. Go back to your quarters and look it over, so you're prepared for your first day."

I thanked her and left. Once back in my quarters, I looked over the 'ethics' list. It forbade things I would never thought of (like stealing a colleague's work), but also things that had been standard when I was with the others. One of the forbidden things was causing research organisms pain, and I remembered Samus' anger toward the Others for their experiments. On the whole, though, I did not foresee any trouble in following these rules.

I still had a few hours until Dr. Reyman reported to work, so I investigated the terminal on the desk. It had a great deal of items dedicated to 'entertainment', which I knew little about, other than it was a way for bio-forms to pass the time. Such a concept did not exist among the Others.

I must admit I did not see the point, either. I found strange rhythmic noises, written accounts of fictional hominid exploits, simulations of various kinds, and images of both hominids and Armadeans copulating. None of it interested me, so I merely went over the 'ethics' list again and waited for the day to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

I entered the lab at precisely the time Dr. Reyman said the day would begin. I found him there already, along with a few Dilphii, some Armadeans, and several hominids. "Ah, welcome, Dr. B! I heard you already visited the lab last night. Once we get you situated, you can work overtime all you want."

"I look forward to it," I said.

This provoked laughter among some of the hominids, and scowls among the Amadeans. Among them I saw the male that had objected to my presence the day before. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You'll be working plenty of overtime, so much that it won't seem quite as fun anymore," said one of the hominids. She had blonde hair and a thin frame, and out of all of the hominids looked the most like Samus, even if on a superficial scale. I assumed they both came from the same planet of origin. She offered me her hand as a greeting. "My name is Lydia."

Dr. Reyman put his hand on my shoulder, as Samus did when she was pleased, and led me over to the workstation that Tirza had shown me. "Here's where you'll be working. It'll be simple stuff at first, until we get an idea for your abilities and experience. For now, you'll be analyzing samples of unknown substances from peripheral planets. The Federation uses this information to determine if the planets can be colonized, or if they are better off left alone."

He pointed out all the other workers. I took note of the fact that the aggressive Amadean was named Oltar. While all the others gave me a short history of their background and what they did in the lab, Oltar merely grunted his name.

"You'll have to excuse Oltar," Dr. Reyman said to me in a low voice after the others had scattered to their workstations. "He was our Metroid expert before you were hired. I imagine he feels like he's being replaced, even though I've told him many times that he's invaluable to me, but…well, Amadeans are Amadeans. It's best to give him a little space before he gets to know you."

All this hominid-speak flew past me so fast I had trouble processing it. The main point seemed to be that I should leave Oltar alone, so I decided to focus on that for now. I did not understand why being assigned another task would provoke anger; the Others switched around all the time. Granted, some had tried more than others to gain the privilege of becoming an Elite. But that was mostly for the better rations, in addition to the prestige of gaining powerful weapons to use against our enemies. Hominids and their companions, as far as I could tell, did not assign food according to rank.

For the first half of the day I did simple chemical analysis, Dr. Reyman coming over now and then to ask if I had any questions. For the most part I did not; it was simple work, and not all that different from what the Others do when they are looking for new conquests. From time to time Lydia would step over as well, asking if I needed help as well as a bevy of other questions.

Her interest bewildered me. Never had I encountered someone who would stop their work and interrupt another just to talk. When I had been with the Others, I and everyone else had kept our full focus on our work. The only thing that interrupted us was eating time, sleeping time, and very rare events like Samus bursting into our lab. And, of course, if one was transferred, it would take a short time to learn the skills needed. But then it was back to work.

We had not been working long at all when Lydia approached me again. "We're going to the mess hall to have lunch. You want to come?"

I did not feel the need to eat, but I did not know when I would next have another meal, so I followed her out of the lab along with most of the others. When we entered the mess hall, the first thing I noticed was that the Amadeans were lined up on one side, and the hominids on the other. The Dilphii went back and forth between the two. "I thought food was not assigned according to race."

Lydia laughed. "It's not assigned. Humans can't eat Amadean food, and vice versa. Humans cook their food - you know what that means?"

I nodded. "Hominids heat most food items until the chemical structure and proteins change."

"That's right. We've been cooking food for so long, there are really few things we can eat raw. Amadeans, on the other hand, can't digest altered food.. Also, some of the animals that make up an essential part of the Amadeans' diet are poisonous to humans." She picked up a flat plastic object and stood at the end of the line of hominids. "You can choose whatever you want, though…I understand you can eat just about anything."

"I can choose my food?" This astounded me. "But…I only know the names of a few things."

"It's a buffet." Upon seeing my blank look, she offered more information. "There's a few of each kind of food on the buffet table, so you take one of each and bring it back to the tables over there." She pointed to other people already sitting down and eating.

"I see." Standing behind her, I picked up one of the flat plastic things and watched her. First she took a round, white, ceramic object, then a series of metal implements wrapped in soft paper. I knew hominids did not eat these things, so I watched in puzzlement as she scooped food out of the containers and set it on the round object. I copied her anyway, taking one of everything. Then I stepped over to the Amadean side of the line and repeated the process. Luckily there was a place to set down one's flat thing along the table; I could only do so much with one hand.

I found a cheeseburger and some chocolate, but the rest of the food was unknown to me. I sat down at a table next to Lydia, along with two Dilphii (Megasi and Trilla), Oltar, and Dr. Reyman. "What is this one?" I asked Dr. Reyman. I did not want to burden Lydia with all my questions, even though I had started to feel drawn to her more than the others. Since she looked a little like Samus, she was the only thing on that colony that was familiar to me.

"That's mashed potatoes," he informed me. "Plant root matter crushed and cooked. You're supposed to put the butter on it." He pointed to a yellow square that I had placed on the other side of the ceramic object.

I ate one thing at a time, asking for its name first, all of it delicious. The hominids used the metal implements to cut their food and bring it up to their mouths. I didn't understand this, but I tried to copy them as best as I could. Some foods did not require the implements, and I decided I preferred those. I tried to keep my excitement down, since the others in the room kept casting me strange looks. It was all so good! I still liked cheeseburgers best, however.

When I came to the Amadean food, Lydia and Dr. Reyman said they didn't know. "That's maka," Oltar said of the long, black, eel-like creature I had pointed to. "It's poisonous to humans." Then he sat and watched to see what I would do, as if hoping that it would poison me, too.

But the Others can eat just about anything, so in my mandibles it went. It had a very different taste from hominid food. Not as good, but still better than Elite rations. Oltar appeared disappointed that I had not dropped dead from eating it. "So you Space Pirates really are living garbage processors," he said. "You can eat anything."

"I am not a Space Pirate," I said. I would end up repeating this frequently aboard Ceres, not just to Oltar. The way he said "garbage processor" did not sound like a compliment, but I could not figure out how our digestive ability would be an insult. "But I can eat most organic matter, and I do not produce any waste, either. My body is engineered for efficiency." Before he could make any remark, I pointed to a container with small, bright green insects wriggling inside it. "What is this one called?"

"Kirka," he replied. He sounded slightly less antagonistic, possibly because I had taken an interest in his food. The hominids recoiled in disgust every time I raised the food to eye level for a closer examination. Oltar seemed to find this amusing.

When they were done, they all wiped their mouths with the soft paper, though I ended up shredding mine. Then it was back to the lab.

Lydia wandered over to my workstation again. "So you and Samus Aran are friends?"

I considered this. "She is a friendly ally, yes."

"But she's your friend, isn't she?"

After pondering this for a while, I said, "I don't understand the use of this word in this context."

"You two are friends. You like each other, like being with each other."

"I do enjoy Samus' company," I said to her. "Her _I_ is very powerful and was fascinating to examine." Then I paused for a long time. "I must admit that I don't know what she thinks in regard to me. Her thoughts are very hard to perceive."

"Well, she got you this job, so she must be your friend."

I decided to file that information away for later. But Lydia was not finished. "What's she like?"

"She stands approximately six feet high, has hair the color hominids call 'blonde'…"

"No, I mean, what is her personality like?"

"Personality?"

"Her _I_."

"Her _I _is dedicated to the destruction of the Others and all their creations."

Leaning on the workstation, Lydia said, "I wonder why that is. Do you know?"

I did, but it occurred to me that this would fall under the 'private' category of hominid knowledge. Samus always got angry when I brought up topics in this area. She was not here now, but something told me that she would be angry if I discussed them with someone else. "I do not think Samus would want me to distribute that information."

Her eyes widened then. "You _must_ be good friends, if she told you stuff she doesn't tell anyone else."

I was about to explain the circumstances for this, but Dr. Reyman shooed her back over to her own terminal. Relieved, I went back to work. I decided I liked Lydia's company, even though I found interacting with her very tiring.

Oltar, on the other hand, seemed to be what Samus had called a 'jerk'.

At the end of the shift, I again found myself lacking something to do and decided to work in the next shift as well. The others invited me to join them for 'dinner', another meal period, but I had already eaten so much during 'lunch', that I declined. An exoskeleton cannot expand as easily as a soft-bodied organism does, so I had a limit to how much I could eat at a time.

Tirza and the two Dilphii greeted me as they entered the lab for the night shift. About halfway through, Tirza approached me. "Have you talked to Lydia much yet?"

I nodded. "Yes, very much. Lydia frequently converses with me."

"I figured. Well, watch out for her, all right?"

This statement stunned me. "Watch out? You seem to be implying that she is dangerous." Lydia certainly didn't look very threatening.

Tirza waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "I don't mean like that. I mean she's overly ambitious…she's been studying Metroids too, and she might try to steal your work."

If I had been surprised before, this floored me. "But that is forbidden under the ethics code."

With a short laugh, Tirza said, "Yeah, we know."

"Won't she face punishment if she is caught?" I asked. "Punishment for disobedience among the Others is death."

Tirza scratched her head with long claws. "Well, as much as I hate plagiarizing research thieves, that's a little harsh. She'd get kicked off Ceres and would be discredited, but that's it."

"I didn't know such a thing was possible. What is the point of the ethics code then?"

She sighed. "You're very naïve for one of a race of intergalactic thieves. You're not supposed to do any of that stuff, but some people try to do it without getting caught."

"Why?" I remembered some of the Others going against orders to augment their physical strength with Phazon, but I think these had already either fallen victim to Phazon Madness or had the first inklings of an _I_.

"Why? Money, prestige, lots of things. Far as I'm concerned, it's not worth enough to steal. But listen, Dr. B, don't tell her too much, okay?" She leaned in close. "I heard she stole work from Oltar a few years ago, and that's why he's so grouchy. But I don't know that for sure. You didn't hear it from me, okay?"

My head was spinning. All these concepts I didn't understand. "Will you excuse me? I think I will go to sleep after all."

"Oh? Okay. Uh, take care, Dr. B."

Back in my quarters, I searched for any news of Samus. Unfortunately, the Federation records I found through my terminal stated that they hadn't had any contact with her; the planet itself had a thick atmosphere that impeded communication. I did not worry much - I had complete faith in Samus - but I realized that my _I _was still incomplete. I still needed her as a guide.

I decided to sleep, and hoped that I would hear from her soon.


	4. Chapter 4

I did not hear from Samus for several weeks. In the meantime, I tried to understand my place among the rest of the sentient beings. Despite the difficulties, I found support in unexpected places.

During the second week, a Dilphii approached me from another department. He (I say 'he' even though Dilphii have no gender) greeted me with, "Hello, Dr. B. My name is Siskin and I am from the cybernetic department."

"Hello, Siskin." After a long pause, I asked, "Is there something I can do for you?"

He nodded. "Actually, there is something we can do for each other. I understand you lost your weapon arm fighting the Space Pirate captain."

I noticed him looking at my shoulder, at the chitinite patch that still remained there. "Yes, though I can perform most of my duties without problems because I am used to doing experimentation with just one hand. A weapon arm only serves a purpose in a fight."

"Indeed. Well, Dr. B, I was wondering if you would like to participate in one of our experiments. You see, we have been attempting to create cybernetic limbs for Federation soldiers that have lost theirs in battle. We have a reasonably good prototype, but it is still rather tricky to install. Since your kind easily responds to body alteration, I thought that I could provide you with a new arm. You would have the use of a weapon arm again, and if we could study its functions with you, it would help us in creating one that would work for hominids."

I considered this. "I am not sure this is possible. I do not think that Dr. Reyman or the rest of the crew would want me to have a weapon arm again. I certainly don't need it here." After a pause, I said, "Would it be possible to get another arm like this one?" I held up my functioning hand.

He thought for a few moments, then nodded. "Yes, actually, I think that would be best. A weapon arm is simpler to make, but we'll have to figure out how to map the nerves to individual digits anyway…might as well start at the beginning."

"Thank you!" I found it difficult to express my appreciation. "I would very much like to participate in this experiment. When can I begin?"

The Dilphii laughed. "Well, I have to sort out some paperwork, and then we can get started."

"Paperwork?"

"Part of the Ethics Code. I know things are different where you come from, but here we must ask sentient beings before we conduct any experiments. And you must give your consent before we can begin, in a formalized manner."

"Oh." This was a novel concept. "Well then…just tell me what I need to do."

"I'll take care of the arrangements. Come by the cybernetics department tomorrow to give your formal consent, and we'll take things from there."

The next day I eagerly waited outside the cybernetics department until Siskin came to get me. Once in his office, he transferred a series of documents onto my little handheld device and told me to read the 'disclaimer'. ("Paperwork", it turned out, was an arcane hominid term for an early form of written correspondence.) It was a long document, spelling out everything that would be done, what side effects could possibly appear, and a general statement demonstrating to what degree the cybernetics department was responsible if something went wrong. It also detailed when I would receive the arm and how often I would need to return there for testing. When I finished, Siskin said, "Now all I need is your signature."

"My what?"

"Sign your name at the end of the document."

"What will that do? My name is already in the document as the experimental subject."

"It's another hominid ritual," he explained. "Signing your name means that you give your word that you understand everything you read and have no issues with it."

"I don't understand how writing my name establishes that."

He shrugged. "It's a hominid thing. The Federation is dominated by them, so a lot of their customs are used throughout Federation protocol."

Though I did not understand it, I saw no harm in it, so I used a small pointed device to spell out my name on the screen. I did not understand why the Federation preferred this; my wobbly attempts to replicate the text of my name did not look readable. Siskin said most signatures generally weren't.

I decided to leave off trying to figure out this particular hominid custom.

For a few hours a day, I would go to the cybernetics department and take off the chitinite patch. Siskin used his diagnostic material to tease out the nerves, which had healed over where they had been severed, so that they would function correctly when connected to the cybernetic filaments. About halfway through the procedure, Siskin asked if I was feeling any pain.

"Yes," I told him. "The nerves seem to be working properly."

"I can give you an anesthetic." He motioned toward another machine, gesturing for his hominid attendant to change its controls.

"What for?"

Dilphii do not use expressions amongst each other, but other bio-forms can't translate telepathy as well as they can, so they've adopted some hominid "faces". The one he showed now reflected puzzlement. "To prevent you from feeling pain. Of course, I've never tested this chemical on a Space Pirate, so we probably shouldn't give you too much at once."

"I am not in too much pain. It is not comparable to being attacked by Chozo ghosts or Ridley."

His expression stayed on his face. "Well, we'll give you a little anesthetic anyway, because you'll be feeling more pain as this goes on. I'm sure even you have a limit."

I nodded. "Thank you, I appreciate it. I do not really like pain, or fear, but I am used to enduring it."

Siskin said nothing. I had the distinct impression that he didn't know what to say.

One day, after being fitted with a cap on my shoulder that would encourage the nerves to grow and repair, a message came for me over the intercom. "Dr. B, you have a visitor in the reception lobby."

Of course it could only be one person. I was halfway to the lab door before I remembered that I had to ask Dr. Reyman's permission. He waved me on as if there was no need.

"Samus!" I found her sitting in a large chair made for Amadeans, with her helmet off this time. "It is good to see you. I have so much to tell you!"

"Hey, Dr. B." She looked troubled, her face drawn, dark circles under her eyes. "Things are working out well for you here? That's good to know."

"You seem distressed. Has something happened?"

"Nothing bad, no. Just odd. Can we go somewhere quiet, where there aren't any other people around?"

Odd? I didn't think Samus could find anything she thought odd, given her line of work. "Yes, we can go to my quarters. I have my own room! With a food machine that gives me cheeseburgers whenever I want them!"

She laughed. "Sometimes it's the little things that matter the most."

I begged to differ. Cheeseburgers on demand were no little thing, and I said so. She only laughed more.

I showed her into my quarters. Really the only thing of interest was the food replicator, but I bid Samus sit on the bed if she was tired. She did so, and asked, "Dr. B, what do you remember about the origins of Metroid Prime?"

I thought for a while. "There are many small observations I could mention. But the main items that defined Metroid Prime as different from other Metroids - and other species - was the fact that it had a semblance of intelligence. It understood weapons, and it fitted itself with the abandoned materials that the Others it killed had dropped. It was really not like a Metroid at all…more like a totally new species."

Samus nodded slowly as she listened to me speak. "I came up against Metroid Prime again while on Aether."

I blinked. "But I thought it was dead, buried under the collapsed cave."

"So did I." She sat silently for a while, watching her own fingers flex beneath the Chozo armor as if it were new to her. "Dr. B, you remember just before we got out of there, it took the Phazon suit coating I had been wearing?"

I nodded. "Do you think that was enough to shield it from several tons of stone?"

"I know it was. But that's not the odd thing." She stared down at her armor again. "This battle suit that I wear is interwoven into my human body. I can take it off, as you've seen, but there are still pieces of it implanted inside me. It's hard to explain, because I have to admit I don't fully understand how it works myself…that knowledge died with the Chozo. But I think…the Phazon covering…somehow took on characteristics of the suit itself, and…other things, as well."

I considered this, but it didn't make much sense to me. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Did Metroid Prime's appearance change somehow?"

She nodded. "It…it looked like me."

"Like you?"

"Well, like the suit. And…well…no, there was more. When I killed it…I saw it had a human skeleton. And veins, and arteries, and Metroids don't have any of those things."

I found this intriguing, that a Phazon-altered Metroid could show abilities with mimicry. Samus didn't seem to find it fascinating, though. In fact, she looked more troubled than ever. "This seems like an astonishing discovery, one that probably would benefit the Federation in one way or another. But…you seem distressed."

"This sounds ridiculous, but I think it took on some of my genetic material, somehow…just as I gained some Chozo genes when I first started living with them. So does that mean…" She turned toward me with a confused, pained look. "Does that mean I killed my sister?"

This question stumped me. I didn't see how the two things could go together. "I'm not familiar with hominid genealogical terms, but 'sister' means that you shared the same parents, correct? I don't see why you would group Metroid Prime in that category."

"Well, no. But it had my genetic material…and that's all a sibling is, isn't it? Someone who shares a similar DNA structure? I mean, I never had one, so I don't really know…"

I shook my head. "The Others that hatched from the same pod as myself also shared nearly identical DNA. I do not consider them my siblings. We did not group ourselves that way."

Agitated, she said, "Yes, but that's because that's how Space Pirates are organized. With hominids, if you share the same genes, you're family…"

I thought long and hard about this. "I understand your reasoning now, but I would not jump to conclusions just yet. The Others have done many experiments with genetic material, and even genetically identical creatures can act in completely different ways. Even if you had the exact same signature, you might be too different to be considered part of the same 'family', as you say."

Samus sighed. "I don't know how I would be able to tell. I suppose genetic engineering does muddy the waters a bit…"

"Well, let's think for a moment. What is Metroid Prime's behavior like? Does it hunt the Others?"

She considered this. "I know it killed them," she said at last. "But to be honest, I think she…er, it only killed those that got between it and the Phazon. It seemed perfectly content to just eat Phazon, really." She brightened. "It only attacked when you tried to take its food, like an animal."

"It doesn't sound much like you," I told her. "In fact, I cannot really be sure it has an _I_. Things that merely eat to survive do not have an _I_."

"I think it did have some degree of self-awareness," she said after a thought. "I can't really explain how I know, it's just a sense…but it was faint."

"So it has an underdeveloped _I_." I shrugged. "I do not think you should consider Metroid Prime to be your sibling. It may have had some similarities in appearance and genetic structure, but it is still a completely different and totally unrelated entity."

Samus stood, now smiling broadly. "Thanks, Dr. B. I'm so glad you could help me."

I felt an odd tinge, not unpleasant, though slightly uncomfortable. Flattered, embarrassed, my _I _said to me. "Think nothing of it. You have done so much for me…oh!" I exclaimed as I remembered. "There are some hominid things I want to ask you. A number of things have transpired that I do not understand."

She nodded eagerly. "Sure, go ahead."

Just then a knock came at the door. I opened it and was surprised to find Dr. Reyman there. "Dr. B, Ms. Aran…I've just gotten word from the Federation Council. They want you - both of you - to report to Federation headquarters immediately."


	5. Chapter 5

Only thirty minutes later Samus and I sat aboard her gunship. I had no "personal effects", so it did not take us long to make preparations to leave. Dr. Reyman had little to tell us; this was a classified mission and he had only been told that we needed to make an appearance at Federation headquarters. I asked if he would keep this job for me until I returned; he seemed surprised that I would want to return after being summoned to headquarters. But I had grown used to things at Ceres, and I still looked forward to Siskin giving me a new arm.

Samus spoke little. She did not know why we were being summoned, either. Since we did not have much to talk about regarding our future mission, I decided to consult her about my recent issues. "Samus, my interactions with the other bio-forms have been confusing."

"I imagine it would be, at first," she answered.

"The hominid named Lydia speaks to me frequently while I am working. She looks a bit like you. But she does not act like you. I am not sure how to react to her."

"If she bugs you while you're busy, tell her to go away."

"But she is friendly to me. Some of the bio-forms are not. The Amadean named Oltar is not friendly. I sampled some of his sustenance and it seemed he wanted it to poison me."

She turned from her terminal to look at me. "Oltar's the one who threw a fit when I first introduced you, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, I met him once before. He doesn't care for me much."

"Why not?"

"It was an honest mistake, really. He asked the Federation to offer a bounty for an experiment of his that had been stolen by Space Pirates. It had a lot of promise, so they gave the job to me. I don't even know what it was…I just retrieved it and brought it back. But Oltar didn't pick it up. His lab assistant did. She took credit for his experiment. So Oltar's been mad at me ever since…even though I explained that she checked in with Harlan and my responsibility ended when I brought it back."

Stunned, I said, "His lab assistant must have been Lydia! So what Tirza said was true!"

Samus asked me to explain, and I did. She shrugged. "It could have been her. I wasn't paying much attention to what she looked like. You can't tell if the story's true just from hearsay, Dr. B."

"But what should I do? I enjoy Lydia's company, but she troubles me sometimes and if she is an enemy of Oltar and Tirza…"

"'Enemy' is kind of strong, Dr. B. It's not like she'd shoot you or something."

"But Samus…I do not understand sentient relationships. At all. Lydia asked me if I was your friend and I couldn't tell her. Am I?"

She blinked several times. "I guess so, Dr. B. I don't have many."

I sighed in relief. "Well, at least I have an answer to a question. There have been so many questions since I arrived at Ceres. Samus, what should I do about Tirza, Otlar, and Lydia?"

She shrugged. "This is why I work alone, Dr. B. I can't handle all the sniping and backstabbing that comes with dealing with other people. Half the time I don't understand them myself. I grew up with a group of extinct bird-people, so it's not like I had a lot of practice."

Samus did not seem inclined to say any more about it. I stared out at the stars, feeling as if I were adrift in space instead of safely inside her gunship. Samus was my source of answers. What could I do if she did not have any?

As we docked into the station, I could see a whole army of Federation soldiers waiting for us. Instinctively I wondered if they wanted to harm us; but Samus appeared almost uninterested. She put her helmet back on and we both exited the ship.

A hominid with many shiny metal things on his clothing greeted us. I knew hominids used these metal pieces to indicate their position in the hierarchy. This person appeared to be of high status. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Samus Aran." He turned to me. "Dr. B."

"Greetings."

He turned back to Samus. "Ms. Aran, if you would follow me, the Federation heads are already in session."

We followed him, the soldiers surrounding us so that I could see little on all sides. I honestly did not know if they were there to protect us, or the people that I could occasionally pick out between the soldiers. The station itself had been much more lavishly designed than the one where Samus had delivered her report. I could see platinum scrolling on the walls, as well as the brushed pigment on canvas that hominids call "art". The floor was covered in a shiny igneous rock of a color similar to the platinum.

We approached a room with enormous closed double doors. As we entered, I could hear several exclamations of surprise and muted talking on all sides. All around the huge room, easily the size of the entire research wing at Ceres, sat row after row of people from the numerous races of the galaxy. All of them wore clothing with the Federation insignia.

In the middle of the room stood a small stage with a terminal. Three people stood off to one side, all bio-forms of a species I could not identify. At the terminal stood an elderly hominid. I stopped in my tracks when I recognized him; the high leader of the Federation!

Every once in a while I would get a strange feeling that Samus later told me was called "déjà vu". I would feel for a split second that I was back with the Others again. This feeling would often be triggered by doing something that had been forbidden. Standing next to the Federation leader and not killing him certainly qualified as forbidden among the Others. Of course, I was no longer a Space Pirate. But the feeling was still unnerving.

"Ms. Aran and Dr. B." He looked weak, but had a strong voice that carried well. I could immediately see why the hominids might choose him as their leader; the highest-ranking hominids often fight with words and then push others to put those words into action. "I'm glad you could finally join us on such short notice. We have called you here, four of the most talented bounty hunters and a Space Pirate defector, to address a threat to the galaxy, a threat that you are uniquely suited to fighting."

So the other three bio-forms were bounty hunters. I understood why they would ask for Samus; but why was I there? I waited patiently for my turn to ask my question as the Federation leader tapped at the terminal. Above us a hologram appeared of the planet Tallon IV. "We have discovered that the substance known as Phazon as been damaging planets across the galaxy, just as it has with this one."

I nodded, not sure if he was speaking just to me or to the audience as a whole. The Others knew that the Phazon had come from elsewhere, as had the Chozo and Samus.

He brought up another planet's image. "This substance is incredibly dangerous, though we have been assured by our scientists that we may be able to harness its power for constructive, rather than destructive, purposes."

"I do not know what that could be," I said. The audience buzzed angrily, and Samus gave me a sharp look for interrupting.

"Shut him up," one of the bounty hunters snapped, a tall creature that looked as if he were made of ice. I began to apologize, stating I had not understood who he had been speaking to.

The Federation leader raised his hand. "That is why you have been summoned here," he said, speaking to me but in such a way that everyone was meant to hear. "You possess more knowledge about Phazon than anyone in the Federation."

"This may be true," I argued, "but in my lifetime I have not found any purpose for Phazon that would not violate hominid ethics…"

He motioned for me to be silent. "Our scientists have been researching it for a while now, and you are in a unique position to help them." He tapped at the terminal and brought up another image, of a mammoth crystalline object. "This is what we have termed a Levithian Seed; an enormous rock of pure Phazon, sent out from what we believe to be its planet of origin."

"Sent?" a voice scoffed from the audience. "You speak as if this planet is sentient!"

Their leader turned to the speaker. "It seems impossible, I know. But as you can see, it has granted sentience to one who had none." Here he motioned to me.

"What does this have to do with the corruption of our Aurora Units?" another individual shouted down. I realized that they were all high-ranking Federation officers, and though the hominid next to me was their leader, they were permitted to ask him questions. The bounty hunters and I, on the other hand, were expected to wait for orders.

"We believe that these Phazon asteroids, these Levithian Seeds, are somehow connected to the corruption of our systems. The virus has been confirmed as Space Pirate in origin, and we know that they have been working extensively with Phazon. Each Aurora Unit's corruption as corresponded with the arrival of a Levithian Seed in the area."

"Then why not send the Space Pirate?" Someone yelled down from near the top of the room. "Why risk sending in bounty hunters that can be used for other missions?" Several shouts of agreement echoed throughout the room.

"Dr. B is a scientist, not a fighter," their leader shouted over the din. The three other bounty hunters looked at me with something akin to disgust. "We need his knowledge. We can't afford to have the Space Pirates ahead of us in terms of understanding this dangerous substance."

Turning back to the hologram, he said, "The bounty hunters will be sent out to vaccinate one of the Aurora Units, and gather as much information as possible. In the meantime, the former Space Pirate will work with our scientists to determine what use they can derive from the Phazon."

"I won't be going with Samus?" This disappointed me immensely; I did not want to be thrown by myself into another strange place. Samus put her hand on my shoulder and asked me to be quiet. I did as she asked, but I could not quiet the internal protests of my _I_.

"The bounty hunters will proceed to the briefing room," the leader said as he shut down his holographic terminal. "Dr. B, I you will be escorted to our Research and Development Unit."

The four bounty hunters stepped off the stage as the people began to empty out of the room. A pair of Federation Marines stepped up to me. "Come this way, please, Dr. B."

I hung back. "Samus, I don't want to stay here. I want to go with you, or back to Ceres."

She stopped and stared at me, not angry, but surprised. I think she was as startled as I was to see my _I_ manifest so strongly. I had never expressed my desire like this outside of stating that I wished to leave the Others. "I'm sorry, Dr. B. You're not strong enough to come with us, and if you want to work for the Federation, you have to do as they say. It's one of the reasons I left."

"Will I be strong enough if I retrieve my Elite shielding and missile launcher?"

"The Federation needs your knowledge more, Dr. B. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."

"But Samus-" She waved good-bye and followed the other bounty hunters out the door.

"Dr. B. If you please," said one of the Marines. I watched Samus leave, then reluctantly turned around and followed them.

Angry thoughts entered my mind as I walked through the hallways. I had rescued Samus from the Others, and helped her defeat their captain! Why was I not allowed on the mission? Why had she not spoken up for me, as she did before? This was different from simply being assigned another post! It was…unfair?

I wondered if this was the sense of justice the hominids seemed to hold so dearly. It certainly would explain the intensity behind their actions.

We entered the Research and Development wing, and the energy in the air changed drastically. Whereas before it had been charged with hostility and suspicion, the stares I received seemed curious and ecstatic. Heads turned wherever we went, and after a short time a small entourage started following us.

"Greetings, Dr. B!" a Dilphii greeted me enthusiastically. "I am Dr. Ita, the head of the Federation's Research and Development Unit." He dismissed the two Marines and extended his hominid-form hand in the greeting ritual. "We have been greatly anticipating your arrival. Please, come with me."

Seemingly every scientist in that place trailed behind us as we entered another theater room, though not as large as the last one. As the various bio-forms took their seats, note-taking panels appeared on their chairs and they waited expectantly as Dr. Ita led me to the stage. He picked up a small metal device, and through a thick shielding window, I could see a small rock of Phazon glowing bright blue.

Proudly holding it up for me to see, he said, "This is a prototype of what we call a Phazon Enhancement Device. Once it is finished, we hope to use it to harness Phazon energy, and apply it to useful purposes. Of course, there are still a few kinks we need to work out. Please, enlighten us with your observations."

The room fell silent. I turned the object over in my hand, the sound of metal clicking against my chitinite fingers echoing throughout the theater. I studied its design, the schematics that had been placed on the table next to it. Somebody coughed, and then the air roared with silence again.

"Well?" Dr. Ita asked after ten minutes had gone by. "What do you think?"

Unaccustomed to being asked what I thought about anything, I stumbled over thoughts. "It appears to be solidly made, though there will certainly be a great deal of wasted energy…" I stopped as the air filled with the sound of fingers and other digits clicking on terminals. "I'm sure there are some easy modifications to make it more efficient…but…just what do you plan to use it for?"

"For?" Dr. Ita looked confused.

"What applications does it have?" The Others never did anything unless they could see it fulfilled a purpose.

"Oh. Well, we planned to use it as a fuel, or a weapon."

"Phazon makes a poor fuel," I informed him. Another storm of digits hitting terminals. "It is very unstable. I suppose it would make a good weapon though. I have seen Samus use it to defeat Metroid Prime."

One of the hominids in the seating area put his hand up. "Sir, would you relate this story to us in detail? We've only heard the official summary." Numerous other voices echoed him.

I told the story, as much of it as I could remember, a little unsettled because I was unused to having a captive audience. They hung on my every word. Then they insisted on hearing more stories about my exploits with Phazon-corrupted Metroids. There was no end to it until some hours later, when Dr. Ita finally decided it was eating time.

I followed the others and stood in line, but Dr. Ita came up to me and asked, "What would you like?"

I figured he was just curious, so I said, "I like cheeseburgers."

He seemed puzzled. "Cheeseburgers? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I also like chocolate. And other hominid food that does not require using the metal eating implements. I like some Armadean food too."

"All right, I'll get it for you." He gave these orders to one of his lab assistants. "Come join us at this table."

He led me to another room with cloth coverings on the tables, and other cloth squares that I found out were substitutes for the paper mouth-cleaners. Dr. Ita and the others peppered me with questions all throughout the meal. I was afraid we were going to go back to the theater, but Dr. Ita said, "I'm sure you're tired from your journey. Ceres really is on the outskirts." Somebody laughed, but I did not see the joke. "Would you like me to show you your quarters?" I gave him an emphatic yes.

My quarters were even bigger than the ones back at Ceres. It contained more sitting furniture (Dr. Ita called it a "couch"), a window out onto the galaxy (my quarters at Ceres had none), and a larger "bed".

I stared out the window. My _I_ did not like this place, not at all, even though everyone in Science and Development seemed to like me. It was their interest in Phazon that bothered me the most. Phazon was useless, in my opinion. Even though their Enhancement Device probably would make a good weapon, I felt sure that there would be some bad side-effect. I had no evidence of this, of course…just the ruthless nagging of my _I_.

My _I_ also cried out for Samus. It was not mere loneliness. I felt sure that something bad would happen to her. Once again, no evidence, just my _I._

For the second time in my short aware-life, I contemplated rebellion.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm not gonna make conjectures about what the story will include anymore in chapters, so if you want to know where it stands, you can visit my profile.

I started up my terminal at the desk and sent out a call to Dr. Reyman. His surprised face appeared on my screen within moments. "Well, hello, Dr. B. How is your new post?"

I cannot lie, but I can hide the truth. "There are many new mysteries for me to examine. Dr. Reyman, I know Samus stated that I should not bring my armor and missile launcher, but she has left on a bounty and I feel I may need them. Can you send them to me?"

"I can't send the missile launcher, the Federation would have my head if I sent something like that to anyone," he replied with a laugh. "But I can send out your armor on the next cargo shipment."

"Thank you." I moved to cut off the transmission, but Dr. Reyman started speaking again before I could.

"So what do they have you studying out there? I know most of it's probably classified, but I was curious to know if you're able to use your special knowledge."

"They have me involved in Phazon studies," I told him, and no more.

"I see. And do you enjoy your work?"

I paused. I could not tell him the truth, for then he would give me more questions and quite possibly discern the reason for my call. I greatly disliked trying to maneuver around subtle hominid speech, even though I had much success in deceiving the Others by concealing my true motives. "I must admit that I prefer Metroid studies, Dr. Reyman."

"Oh? Didn't Samus tell you about her findings on Aether?"

"Do you mean about Metroid Prime?"

"No, no. She didn't tell you? It's been uploaded into the main science encyclopedia. The Space Pirates have been using the Phazon-mutated Metroids as energy storage containers."

Shocked, I said, "I had no idea. Samus did not make any mention of this to me. Metroids as energy containers? I can't imagine that would work very well, especially with such a volatile compound as Phazon." Distressed, I wondered why she had not told me this. Granted, she had enlightened me on a very 'private' matter, probably more significant than mere scientific findings. But then why keep it from me? Or had it merely slipped her mind?

Dr. Reyman nodded. "Yes, the Metroids were not terribly useful this way. But, from what I understand, the Space Pirates had little to work with. They had crash-landed, you see, and had to make do with what they'd brought on board their ship. For their part, the Metroids wanted out of it. I got a short video she'd taken of one bashing itself against its container walls in an attempt to escape."

We talked a little more, and then I signed off to look at the data Samus had uploaded. Suddenly the Federation scientists' motives had become very clear to me. If the Space Pirates had found a practical use for Phazon, then the Federation would have to as well, or risk falling behind in their fight for control of the galaxy. I had confirmed the suspicions they probably already had that Phazon could not be used as a fuel; so now they had focused on using it as a weapon.

For the next few days, I assisted the Research and Development department in testing its Phazon Enhancement Device for weapons purposes. It functioned much better this way than as a fuel. In attempting to channel its energy into a useful purpose, a great deal of it was lost. But if we simply allowed the device to draw off its energy and expel it, a little bit of Phazon went a long way. Just the little rock housed inside the prototype nearly caused the device to blow open a blast wall made of ten feet of maconite. If it had gone all the way through, it might have breached the ship's hull. Of course, the Federation colony had impressive measures to protect against explosive decompression, but the experiment served as a clear indication of Phazon's power.

One day I was helping Dr. Ita and several of his assistants with finding appropriate insulation. Like any process that involves ionizing radiation, the PED generated a lot of heat. By this time I had received my Elite shielding, but I said nothing about this. I still considered leaving, if I could find a way to make that possible.

As we worked, I heard someone announce over the intercom, "Dr. B, please report to the medic station, Radiation wing." I gave Dr. Ita a puzzled look, but all he did was make a gesture indicating I could leave. I wondered if there could have been a Phazon accident. There were several Phazon experiments going on, and I could only be involved in one at a time.

As I came to the end of the Research and Development wing, two Federation Marines met me at the door. "Please come with us to the medic station," they said.

"Yes, I was just going there."

"We need you to come quickly. Follow us." We set off at a pace that was more than a walk but less than a run. The mystery deepened; it took something serious for a Federation Marine to hurry.

A scene of chaos greeted us as we entered the medic wing. Doctors and assistants of several species flew past me, some fleeing out of the wing, some running in with armfuls of supplies. Others wheeled patients on gurneys, and since none of them showed signs of radiation poisoning, I assumed that they were being evacuated. The further in we went, the more we saw people clothed in radiation suits. I could sense the presence of Phazon in the air, though the level was too low for me to be in danger at the moment.

A hominid (dressed in his protective suit, I could discern no more than that) ran up to us and barked at the Marines, "This him?" They nodded. "All right, dismissed! Dr. B, come with me."

"Who are you?" I asked, caught off guard by the lack of hominid greetings.

"Malik Jamison, head Federation doctor," he said so quickly I could barely understand him. "We've got serious Phazon contamination. You need a suit?"

I shook my head. The level of radiation and heat increased as we entered a heavily shielded room with thick double doors. I could see four bio-shielded gurneys, two on each side of the room, and in the first of the gurneys was…

"Samus!" I could only see her face, separated from the rest of the protective shield. They had taken off her helmet to insert a tube down her throat, presumably for breathing. The rest of her suit stayed on, and I could see the characteristic faint blue glow coming from below her head.

Dr. Jamison grabbed me by my one arm. "Dr. B! We have to see to all the patients, and Samus is in the least danger right now. Come over here!"

With great difficulty I dragged myself away from Samus and followed Dr. Jamison to a very large containment gurney that rattled slightly. "This bounty hunter is a shape-shifter. The Phazon is screwing with its shifting ability and it's only a matter of time before it changes into something too big to fit into the bio-shield. Dr. B, how do we remove the Phazon?"

Surprised, I asked him and the frantic group of assistants around him, "It is not in crystalline form?"

Dr. Jamison shook his head and tapped at a terminal near the gurney. Several pictures popped up of the bounty hunter lying on the ground where it had presumably been found, with zoomed-in pictures of its body and limbs. The Phazon seemed to have fused into the body itself!

"Please let me think for a moment, and try not to press me. I have never seen this before." They all exchanged panicked looks as I considered the problem at hand. The Phazon could not be physically removed, but perhaps I could speed up the decay process by drawing off the energy. But how?

Suddenly I got an inspiration. "The PED that Research and Development is working on…I need it brought here. Also, we need to open the room somehow so that we can expel volatile energy into space."

"We have an airlock for hazardous waste disposal nearby," one of the assistants piped up. "But how do we keep from jettisoning the entire gurney?"

"How big is the airlock door?" I asked.

The assistant gestured with his hands. "About so high, and so wide."

"I think I have a solution." I turned to one of the communication terminals and contacted Dr. Ita. "Dr. Ita, I need someone to bring the Phazon Enhancement Device to the Radiation Wing of the medic station immediately. Also, please bring the crate that was shipped to me from Ceres."

Within a few minutes, Dr. Ita hand-delivered the PED himself, and several Marines brought the crate. I opened the crate and took out my Elite shielding. It pained me to damage it, but there were more important uses for it. I turned down the PED to its lowest setting and used it to cut a small hole in the shield.

Hefting the heavy shield, I asked one of the assistants to show me to the airlock. I placed the shield in the inner doorway of the airlock and instructed one of the Marine engineers to weld it together. I inserted the PED into the hole in the shield and had that welded, too. I asked that the bounty hunters be brought to the airlock, and instructed the Marine engineer to attach the back of the PED - where the Phazon was normally held - to the ventilation ports in the bio-shielded gurney.

"Stand clear, please," I instructed as I put my hand on the PED. "I'm not entirely sure this will work." Everyone else took a nervous step back.

I flipped the switch. An enormous surge of power burst through the PED and out the airlock, so much of it that I could see a faint blue glow in the windows far down the hall. The PED immediately heated up so quickly that I had to jerk my hand away, but after a few moments the Phazon had completely drained from the bounty hunter. The gurney sat silently, its inhabitant now sedated and harmless.

"Quickly, bring the next one!" I ordered. There was no time to wait for the PED to cool down. After I flipped the switch again, the chitinite on the tip of my finger softened ever so slightly. It looked slightly misshapen for a long time after that.

At last, they brought Samus, and I hooked her up to the makeshift device as well. I breathed a sigh of relief as the Phazon drained from her body and was expelled into deep space.

But the ordeal was not yet over. After we brought the gurneys back to the intensive care room, Dr. Jameson took a look at the diagnostic screens. "Everything looks fine…vital signs are stabilizing for all four…yet there's something wrong with…" He squinted at the screen, then magnified the image of the body within several hundred times. "Some of the Phazon was left in the body…and not only that, but it's multiplying!"

"Impossible," said Dr. Ita, his voice muffled by his radiation suit. "If anything, it should be shrinking as it decays."

Dr. Jameson pointed to the screen. "Should or not, it's multiplying. It's not acting like a radioactive isotope at all." He turned from Dr. Ita to me. "What should we do?"

"I'm not familiar with this phenomenon," I had to admit. "The Others would use as much Phazon as possible, and test subjects with too much were discarded. But for now…perhaps we can use the PED to draw off Phazon at intervals, until we find a way to remove it permanently."

"Wait, I have a better idea," Dr. Ita said as he pushed past me toward one of the gurneys. "Why don't we build three more PEDs and attach them to the bounty hunters?"

I considered this. "I suppose then they could move about and not be confined to the gurneys. But if we can find a solution quickly, we won't have to spend unnecessary time developing the new PEDs."

"No, Dr. B. I mean we would integrate the PEDs into their body structure. Then they could use the Phazon as a weapon, with an inexhaustible supply!"

"I'm not sure I follow. You have done this before? You haven't demonstrated this prior knowledge before."

"No, no. It would be more of an experiment."

I picked up the little hand-computer I had gotten at Ceres and consulted it. "That's fine, I suppose," I said as I looked over the Code of Ethics. "We'll just have to ask their permission."

"There's no time for that," Dr. Ita snapped. "Three more PEDs will take a long time to make."

"But the Code of Ethics…"

Dr. Ita leaned over to look at my hand-computer. "Oh, that's the Ceres Code of Ethics. Federation Research and Development has free rein."

I looked to Dr. Jameson, who wore an expression of disapproval. "Is this true?"

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Technically, yes. Fed R&D trumps anything that Ceres might say."

"I'm sure, as a former Space Pirate, you understand how a hierarchy works," Dr. Ita said. Something about the way he said it irritated me, and I only felt more opposed to the plan.

"Well, I will speak for Samus at least, because I know her wishes. She would not want to be part of this experiment."

"It's not negotiable, Dr. B," said Dr. Ita. "Besides, how can you speak for Samus? You're just a Space Pirate she picked up on Tallon IV."

I felt a hot surge of anger, and wondered why Dr. Ita was suddenly being confrontational. "I am Samus' 'friend'. She said so. She is extremely opposed to any kind of involuntary experimentation. It is one of the reasons she hunts the Others!"

Dr. Ita looked as if he were about to argue further, then suddenly settled down. "Dr. B. Samus Aran is not the type of person to turn down a dangerous mission. She will likely be asked to investigate whatever it was that attacked her and the others, and in order to do so, she will need to match her adversary's methods of attack. She'll never survive another attempt without an…upgrade, if you will." He leaned in close to me. "If you really do not want to see her hurt, you need to consider this."

"But why can't we just wait until they wake up?" I pleaded. "Their vital signs are stable. ..it can't take long."

Dr. Jameson frowned at his terminal. "I'm not sure they will wake up until we find a way to either eliminate or control the Phazon in their bodies. It's highly likely that they will remain in a coma if they wait."

"Come, Dr. B," said Dr. Ita. "Come with me and you can help us design a PED for Samus, so she can eliminate this threat to the galaxy."

I looked at him, then at her, breathing slowly in the gurney. This seemed like a bad idea, an idea that burned the very root of my _I._

And yet, I had no choice but to hope for the best.


	7. Chapter 7

I worked long, difficult shifts, just as I had when I was with the Others. Dr. Ita caught onto my need for less sleep and insisted that I work as much as I could. So I spent many hours with him or his assistants, creating the new PEDs. Each bounty hunter had a vastly different body structure, so each PED had to be built almost from the beginning. I did not even go to the eating place while I worked; an assistant would bring me cheeseburgers during mealtimes.

Samus's PED was the trickiest. It had to work in tandem with Samus's suit, and of course nobody there was familiar with Chozo technology. A lot of it came down to trial and error, with Dr. Ita and I frequently at odds over her safety.

I caught him once using a cellular welder before I had given permission. On Chozo armor a mistake would have no ill effects, but of course Samus's core was human and Dr. Ita kept forgetting that. "What are you doing?" I demanded, looking around for Dr. Jamison. He never seemed to be around when Dr. Ita did these things.

Dr. Ita didn't look up from Samus's arm. "Implementing the next stage, of course."

"You are too close to her artery!" I snapped, pointing to the screen that displayed her vital signs and body structure. "See, this one, that carries blood to the heart from her arm."

He ignored me. "You're not an authority on hominid anatomy."

"Then where is Dr. Jamison?"

"He had to sleep. He can't work as long as you, and this needs to get finished quickly."

"You will stop now!" I ordered. Several assistants looked up from the patients they tended. "You do not have Dr. Jamison's permission!"

Dr. Ita gave me an irate look. He pulled out his own hand-computer and gave it to me. "This is an order from the Federation head," he told me. "It gives me the authority to do what needs to be done to complete the PEDs, by any means necessary."

I carefully read every word. It confirmed what he had said. "I don't understand. Why could you not wait for me to do it?"

"You were asleep."

"I only sleep for three hours in a 48-hour cycle!"

He sighed. "Dr. B, the quicker this is finished, the better off she will be." Turning back to Samus and the cellular welder, he said, "You're becoming a distraction. If you cannot follow orders, I'll have you escorted back to your quarters."

Such arrogance! I could not remember feeling so much anger. I deliberately stood in silence, watching. He could not make me leave if I stayed this way and if he made a mistake, I could catch it. Something told me that he would not take responsibility for Samus's injuries. Finally, he finished, and gave me a look I did not like before starting the next stage. I did not recognize it and later described it to one of the assistants, who said it was 'smug'.

As a Dilphii, he had no need to make this face unless he wanted me to see it.

Maybe halfway through the process, I got a message on my hand-computer from Siskin at Ceres. My new arm was complete and ready for installation! I immediately asked Dr. Ita for leave. Just like the Others, the Federation required its members to let their superiors know if they were going to leave their post for any period of time.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait until this project is finished," said Dr. Ita.

This did not make sense. "Surely I would be able to get more work done with two arms instead of one."

"Yes, but it will take time to go there, get it installed, and most importantly get used to the new arm. We don't have time for that."

"My adaptation ability is different from that of hominids, or Amadeans, or Dilphii," I argued, starting to get angry. I could see no reason for his reticence. "The Others and myself have been engineered over time to accept modifications quickly and easily."

"Regardless, I am your supervisor and I am telling you that you will stay here."

His attitude bore a disturbing similarity to that of the Others. For the rest of the day I continued my work in silence, only communicating with him when absolutely necessary.

Finally, when we had almost finished Samus' PED (she had been the last to recover and therefore the last to receive her PED), Dr. Ita told me that I could get my new arm at Ceres. "There's not much delicate work to be done at this point," he said, and tapped the screen on my hand-computer until it stated that I was granted leave from Federation Headquarters. I said nothing to him and instead walked directly from the lab to the hangar where the commuter ships were kept. Of course I had nothing to "pack"; my one personal item, the Elite shielding, now had a hole in it and was no longer useful for its original purpose.

No one else was going to Ceres that day, so I got a ship to myself. This was just fine with me, as the stares from the other bio-forms not familiar with my history always made me uneasy. It hadn't bothered me when I first came; I attributed this self-consciousness to my ever-growing _I_. The small commuter ship had Ceres' location programmed into its navigation software, so all I had to do was sit and wait until I arrived.

Siskin actually met me right outside the docking bay. "Welcome back!" he said. "If you'll follow me to the cybernetics department, we'll get your new arm installed right away."

As I followed him through the halls, a number of Ceres employees I did not recognize smiled and waved by way of greeting. I returned the gesture, wondering where the sudden attention came from. Inevitably, Lydia found us before we reached the cybernetics department. "Hey, Dr. B!" she called out as she ran up to us. "How's your post at Federation Headquarters? I'm jealous!"

"It is very difficult," I told her. "My supervisor is often irrational and there is no Code of Ethics for me to follow."

She laughed. "I guess that would seem pretty strange at first. But you get much more freedom, don't you?"

"Not really. I have been working steadily almost since I arrived. I have not had time for any leisure activities." Not that I ever participated in leisure activities, but I knew hominids often did.

"Oh, that's a pain. Still, I wish I could get a post at HQ. They let you do so much more there in terms of experimentation."

Siskin had to nearly shut the door in her face to get her to go away. "I'm sorry, Lydia, I can't have anyone in the room while Dr. B is having his new arm installed."

Her face fell. "Oh, okay." She immediately brightened again. "See you later!"

Siskin let out an audible sigh after he shut the door. I wondered if he felt as relieved as I did.

His hominid assistant brought in the cybernetic arm. I was impressed; it had been molded in such a way to form a striking resemblance to my other arm. He placed the lower half on a small sterile table and locked the shoulder part in place, immediately after removing the caps that covered my bare nerve endings. Once he finished that delicate operation, he and the assistant made a series of adjustments to the outside clasps, in some areas using a cellular welder to keep it in place.

`"There!" he said at last. "It's powered by your body's electrical impulses, so give it a try and see what you can do."

I attempted to raise my arm. The lower part jerked up, a little quickly but not too much. Siskin watched in amazement as I flexed my fingers, slowly, as if they were made out of some ancient clockwork mechanism. "It's a little difficult," I told him.

Siskin shook his head. "That's an awful lot more than we've seen anyone else do, even after months of physical therapy." He snatched up his hand computer. "You have no idea how useful this is to us; now we can finally prove that the mechanism itself is of considerable quality, it's the level of adaptation and dexterity in the host that's the problem."

The assistant gave me a little rubber ball. I clasped my long digits around it and gave it a squeeze at her direction. I squeezed a little too hard and the tip of one of my digits punctured it. "I'm sorry, but I can't think of a way to improve hominid nerve dexterity."

"Don't be. You've helped us out a lot as is, Dr. B. Thank you so much."

"Thank you. I'm the one getting the new arm, after all."

Lydia, Dr. Reyman, Oltar, and Tirza were waiting for me outside the cybernetics department. "Welcome back, Dr. B! How's the arm working out for you?" Dr. Reyman asked.

I raised my hand in greeting and flexed the fingers a little. All of their faces registered surprise except for Oltar's. "I would hope a former Space Pirate would be able to put that to use, he said with a grunt.

"Are you hungry, Dr. B?" Tirza asked. "We were all about to go to lunch."

I answered in the affirmative. Once we arrived at the eating place, I decided to try some of the foods that required the metal tools, now that I could use both hands.

"Would you like me to get you a cheeseburger?" Lydia asked.

To my great surprise, I felt the need to decline. After eating nothing but cheeseburgers for several weeks straight, I was starting to get sick of them.

* * *

I planned to stay only a few hours, explaining that I needed to get back to HQ and to Samus. Unfortunately, there was some sort of mix-up with the commuter ships and I ended up staying the night. Night or day, it made no difference to me, but the colony was organized around hominid sleep cycles and therefore so were its commuter craft.

The next day, I was dismayed to find that there was still some problem with the commuter craft. They would not tell me what it was, other than a mechanical problem. Annoyed, I walked back toward the lab, hoping to ask Dr. Reyman for something to do while I waited. As I passed one of the recreation centers, Tirza hailed me from inside.

"Aren't you supposed to be going back to HQ?" She sat with Oltar at a little table, with three tiers of boards and little oddly-shaped pieces on them.

"Of course. But the ships are delayed again." I took a quick glance at the thing between them. "What is that?"

"A hominid game, used to pass the time," Oltar explained. "It is a strategy game."

"Do you want to try it?" Tirza asked. "It sounds like you have time to kill. And I'm tired of Oltar always winning," she added with a laugh.

I sat down in Oltar's place as Tirza explained the purpose of the "game". The different colored pieces represented two warring states, and each piece could only move about the board in a specific manner. If a piece moved in such a way to occupy its enemy's space, that enemy piece was "taken" and out of the game. The goal of the game was to corner the head of state until it could no longer move. There was much more to it, but that was the essence of the game. When we finally began to play, Oltar stayed to watch, as if curious to know how well I would do.

It made much more sense than most "games" I had heard about, which usually involved chance occurrences or arranging shapes in specific patterns. I carefully formulated my plan of attack and set it in motion. But it was over quickly. Oltar laughed as Tirza groaned in disgust.

"I'm sorry," I said. I thought games were supposed to be enjoyable.

"Don't be sorry," Tirza told me. "I had no idea you'd pick it up so quickly, after all."

"But I just used logic," I protested. "It is really quite simple…the pieces always move in a certain way,…they are not like organic beings, which are erratic just as often as they follow patterns…"

Oltar motioned for Tirza to get up. "Now, you and I will play," he announced. Soon after we started I realized he had much more skill. He started putting up blocks to my plans, and I had to keep working around them.

"So who are you working under at HQ?" Tirza asked absently as she watched.

"I am working under Dr. Ita,"

Both Amadeans exchanged looks. "That fool is your supervisor?" Oltar demanded. "Watch out for him."

"He's tricky," Tirza said. "He'll take all the work you did and pass it on to the higher-ups as if it was all his own idea."

"I know someone whom he accused of stealing just to get his work," said Oltar. "Completely unfounded."

"I don't care so much about someone taking credit for my work," I said. "The Others always did that anyway. I just want to make sure he doesn't hurt Samus."

"He won't. That won't give him any prestige," Tirza said grimly. "He'll keep her safe for his own sake, though he might be a little rough."

My hand computer beeped. I picked it up to see a message stating that the commuter ship had finally arrived. "I have to go now," I said as I stood. "Thank you for teaching me how to play the game."

I walked out the door, and just as I did, Oltar called after me. "Dr. B! When you return, we well play another game. And then we will see who is the better player!" He spoke as if it was an order, but the tone of his voice sounded more like an invitation.

"Agreed," I said, and then hurried on to the docking bay.

* * *

Upon arrival, I immediately made my way back to the medical wing. Samus wasn't there.

Figuring she had healed after my departure, I walked over to the temporary quarters that visitors to Federation HQ and asked which room she was staying in. The young hominid female at the reception terminal tapped in Samus' name, then frowned at the screen. "I'm sorry, but there's no one here by that name."

"You mean, she is not in her room now?"

"No, I mean no one under the name Samus Aran ever registered here."

Perhaps she had been given special accommodations. I returned to Research and Development to inquire about her progress. I found one of the assistants that had been working with us on her PED. "Excuse me, but where is Samus?"

All the color drained from the male hominid's face. "I'm sorry, Dr, B, I don't know."

Puzzled by his reaction, I said, "I don't need to know where she is right now. What is her current condition? Has she tested her PED yet?"

His eyes darted around the room. "I think you'd better talk to Dr. Ita," he said in a rush, then pointed down the hall to one of the labs. As soon as I turned away, he scampered off in the opposite direction.

Mystified, I opened the lab door and found Dr. Ita with a small group, working with some chemicals. "Is the last PED finished?" I asked.

Dr. Ita looked up. "Ah, Dr. B. How is your new arm working for you?"

I raised my hand to demonstrate it to him, but didn't waver from my line of questioning. "Did you finish the last PED? Has Samus tested it yet?"

"Yes, it worked out quite well for her."

I felt relieved. With all the strange behavior and unanswered questions, I had begun to worry if he had injured her in some way. "I am glad to hear that. Where is she? I would like to speak to her."

"I'm sorry, Dr. B, but she's already left on her next mission."

"What?" The assistants fled to the other side of the room at the sound of my voice. I marched over to Dr. Ita, towering over him. "What mission is this?"

"Why, her mission to eliminate the Levithian Seeds, restore the corrupted Federation's Aurora Units, and eliminate Dark Samus…of course."

"Dark what?" Dr. Ita handed me his hand computer. I scrolled through the massive amounts of new information quickly. "This is Metroid Prime," I said angrily, as I reached the segment on Dark Samus. "I have already helped her fight it once. Why did you not wait for me to return?"

Dr. Ita spoke in an abnormally calm manner that needled at my anger. "Samus doesn't need you, Dr. B. Besides, I want to test the PED's effectiveness without any outside interference. We have to know if her survival was dependent on the PED alone, if we want to use it with Federation soldiers."

"You are using her as a test subject!" I reached for him.

I don't remember much about the next few moments. For a few brief seconds, it was as if I was with the Others again, zeroing in on some threat that needed to be eliminated. Suddenly I had trouble breathing, and realized that Dr. Ita had wrapped one of his appendages around my throat, even though I had him pinned up against the wall. I struggled free and the translator ripped loose from around my neck. The assistants fled, shoving each other in panic through the doors as I lost my gift of speech and Space Pirate screeches echoed through the room.

My _I _was confused. I could not ask it for help. Half of it wanted to pull me back, and the other half wanted to lash out at Dr. Ita for what he had done. The second half drew strength from what little of the Others was left in me and tipped the scales. I chased Dr. Ita around the room, blocking the door and throwing tables out of the way, glassware shattering all over the floor.

The doors burst open, and five Federation Marines ran in. They raised their weapons, and I recognized them as nonlethal energy interrupters - used to stun. My divided _I _could not decide whether to admit my folly and stand down, or laugh at the fact that they had brought nothing that could kill.

Dr. Ita shouted something, probably an order for them to shoot, his calm voice shaken for once.

"Why should they obey you, when you are just as likely to send them to their death?" I demanded. Of course, all they heard was angry shrieks. There was a flash of light, a blinding pain, and suddenly I lay on the ground, awake and aware but completely unable to move. My cybernetic arm twitched slightly.

They carried me to the brig, surrounded by a large escort. We passed through a lot of doors, each one thicker than the last. Finally I was thrown into a tiny room with no light, not even through cracks in the door, which sealed tight. As I waited for the effects of the energy interrupter to wear off, sense and reason returned. I realized I was in a lot of trouble.

A holographic screen appeared out of thin air. A white-haired, stern-faced hominid male stared at me out of emotionless brown eyes. "Dr. B, I am Warden Maestrom. You are under arrest for assault of a Federation Scientist. I don't mind telling you that as a Space Pirate, your life is forfeit unless your bounty hunter friend comes back for you and takes you off our hands. Take from that what you will."

"I am not a Space Pirate!" I insisted, but of course it was pointless for me to say anything. The little screen disappeared and left me in the dark again.

I knew that someone in that station probably had a way of translating my Space Pirate speech., if I could understand what one of them had said. I also realized that likely nobody wanted to hear what I had to say. There were those in the Federation who had been waiting for me to show any kind of Pirate-like behavior, and I had foolishly given in to instinct. Now that I had calmed down, I felt ashamed and worried. They had not killed me on sight, as they would any other Space Pirate…that was a good sign. But only one in a myriad of bad ones. I had a feeling only the Federation's respect for Samus was keeping me alive.

Both our lives now depended on Dr. Ita's Phazon Enhancement Device. It was not a comforting thought.


	8. Chapter 8

I have no way of knowing how much time passed while I waited in that little cell. It is possible that a day might have passed with each serving of food pushed through a special door that could not open the other way. But since the Federation knew that Space Pirates could survive on much less food than other bio-forms, the arrival of food could have marked the passing of a week.

The food was a small block of slightly chewy, tasteless organic matter. I would guess that it had carbohydrates and proteins, as most hominid food does. It reminded me of the normal rations I had been given when I worked with Science Team back on Tallon IV. Sometimes, after I slept, I would be confused as to where I was and for a moment thought I was back there again.

I could not say how long a hominid would survive in this cell; it may have been made especially for Space Pirates. For one thing, hominids and most other creatures with visual sight cannot stay in the dark for very long. In the interrogation archives there was a brief paragraph on something hominids called "The Rapture", an intense state of blind panic experienced by hominids that explored underground caverns. I remember reading that passage because it was around the time I first gained my _I, _and I had been fascinated to see what hominids would endure to explore new territory. To be unable to handle something simple like lack of light, and yet to defy instinct in order to learn new things!

But, as I said, there was a limit to what hominids could endure. My cell was only big enough for me to stand up. Lucky for me, I was actually more comfortable sleeping this way. I could stand in one place for a very long time; my exoskeleton was designed to lock the joints into place to keep my weight evenly distributed. When the Others traveled from place to place, the simple soldiers would often be stacked shoulder-to-shoulder in huge rooms. This is one of the reasons our raids were so successful; sheer force of numbers. But if a hominid was forced to stay in this tiny cell, he would likely go insane from lack of light and room to move.

Unfortunately, in gaining my _I_, numerous weaknesses had plagued me. Fear and pain I experienced for the first time while on Tallon IV with Samus. Now I had another problem: boredom. It was very, very boring. There is no concept of boredom among the Others. Every now and then I would become anxious, worrying about Samus and myself, but for the most part I just stood and was bored. There was no stimulation of any kind to distract me. Boredom is a terrible thing, almost as bad as fear or pain. When I could not take it anymore I would force myself to think back to all my experiences after gaining my _I_ and replaying them in my head. Obviously I did not remember everything, as thinking about these events took much less time than actually doing them.

Finally, the door of my cell opened, and two fully armed Federation Marines stood before me. Behind them stood another two. They said nothing, merely motioning for me to follow them. I did so, and the other two brought up the rear behind me to ensure I could not bolt and run away. As relieved as I was to be finally doing something, I also feared that they might be taking me to my execution!

We walked through more hallways, and I could see the walls becoming slightly thinner and the number of guards dropping ever so slightly. I figured if they were going to execute me, there would be _more_ security, knowing I would be desperate to get away. This was a good sign.

Finally a set of double doors opened and we entered a stark meeting room, the type used for interrogations, but without any restraints. In that room, sitting across from Dr. Reyman and as calmly as if she were in her ship, was Samus!

"I am relieved to see you are alive!" I exclaimed as I moved toward her. One of the Marines barked an order and all four of them leveled their weapons on me. They were lethal ones this time.

Samus raised her hand and spoke, producing another translator. She put it around my neck and suddenly I could understand her. "-nothing I can't handle."

"Samus, how did you get here?" I demanded. "Why is Dr. Reyman here?"

"Dr. B, this is a very serious meeting," Dr. Reyman told me. "Sit down, we have important things to discuss."

I rarely sat down, and had to be very tired to do so. "But Dr. Ita made the PED to use Samus as a test subject and I had no way of contacting her and I knew I shouldn't have attacked him but my _I_ wasn't functioning properly and the Marines were only using energy interrupters and…"

"Dr. B. Sit down please," Samus ordered. I noticed her cast a glance at a large mirror behind her as the Marines left the room. I recognized the mirror as the kind hominids use to watch people without being seen. All hominids know it is used for this purpose, so I must confess that I don't understand its function.

Suddenly I noticed that Samus had not taken off her helmet. Whatever she was doing required a show of power from her. I sat down obediently in one of the chairs.

"First of all," said Samus, "You don't need to worry about Dr. Ita and the PEDs, or Phazon for that matter. It's gone."

"What is?"

"The Phazon. It has all been rendered inert since its source planet, Phaaze, was destroyed."

"Destroyed? How?"

"I blew it up."

I should have expected some kind of answer like this from Samus, but it astonished me all the same. "An entire planet! And all the Phazon is no longer radioactive? It could not really be a radioactive isotope if this is true! What kind of substance was it?"

"Unfortunately," Dr. Reyman said with a wry grin, "I don't think we'll ever know."

I thought about that for a bit. "What about Metroid Prime?"

"Also blown up."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "This time, I am."

"Well," I said slowly, as the implications began to sink in, "I suppose I'm out of a job here, aren't I? I can't research Phazon if it no longer exists."

Frowning, Dr. Reyman said, "That's the least of your worries, Dr. B. The Federation doesn't want you to work here at all. Or on Ceres."

The familiar, unpleasant feeling of fear came over me. "Then…what will they do with me?" Suddenly fear was replaced by my _I_'s sense of 'justice'. "That's not fair! What I did was wrong, but I have seen other researchers who committed crimes working at Ceres!"

Dr. Reyman gave me a puzzled look, and started to ask a question, but Samus interrupted him. "You're not like the other researchers, Dr. B. You're a Space Pirate."

"I am not a Space Pirate! I am Dr. B! You know that," I told her, as if she were mentally deficient. I started to wonder what had happened on Phaaze.

Dr. Reyman leaned in closer. "To most of the Federation, you are a Space Pirate," he said. "You look like one. You used to be one. Space Pirates are the most formidable enemies of hominids."

"But you know I am not like a Space Pirate," I argued. "If someone has only seen me, perhaps, I can understand. But I have been working here for quite a while now! Who else do I need to convince?"

"The head of the Marines," Dr. Reyman said. "They've lost scores of people to the Space Pirates, who as you know, often have disturbing ways of dealing with their prisoners. There are many here who want to see you dead. Space Pirates have been known to employ spies of one kind or another, and there has never before been any documented occurrence of a Space Pirate who willingly defects."

"Which is why we set up this meeting." Samus gestured with a flourish at the mirror. I stood up and marched toward it. "Dr. B," Samus called in warning, but I only stopped when I was a few paces away.

"I am not one of the Others," I said to the mirror. "I have an _I_. I am a sentient being. I attacked Dr. Ita because…" I realized I was just understanding this as I said it. "Because he experimented on my friend. He experimented on her like the Space Pirates experiment on their prisoners. They tried to dissect the Hunter. I rescued her! I would not allow Dr. Ita to be like a Space Pirate to Samus."

Silence. Samus as well as Dr. Reyman looked slightly unnerved. I don't think I ever told her how far the Others had gotten with her before I found her.

Suddenly a voice spoke from somewhere, probably the other side of the mirror. "Do you have a moral compass? A sense of right and wrong?"

I remembered that question. I understood it more now than I did when I was first asked. "Most of the time, I…I do what Samus thinks is right. But sometimes Samus is not here. So I try to learn, but it is confusing. Why is there one code of ethics here, and another on Ceres? I don't know which rules to follow."

I waited for an answer, but got only silence. I looked back at Samus and Dr. Reyman, but they merely shook their heads.

Finally, the voice clicked back on. "All right, Dr. B. We're going to release you into the custody of the bounty hunter. You're forbidden from setting foot in Federation Headquarters ever again."

"What about Ceres?" I demanded.

Dr. Reyman stood. "As I've said before," he addressed the mirror, "Dr. B has been an exemplary researcher. He follows rules perfectly fine on Ceres." Then, so softly that I don't think he intended for them to hear him, he added, "Where we have rules to follow."

More silence. We waited, unable to move on from that sterile little room, until the voice clicked back on again. "You'll have to straighten that out with the Federation head. We want you off Federation HQ by the end of this day cycle."

"Fine." Samus strode purposefully out of the room as the door opened, flanked by several Marines from outside. Dr. Reyman followed.

I turned back to look at the mirror, feeling as if there was something more I should say. But I couldn't sum it up in the few words it required before my time was up. I turned and left.

* * *

The Federation head's office had carpeted floors and a series of different artifacts from numerous planets, either hung on the walls or in display cases. We had to walk through several long corridors with nothing in them but more artifacts and doors that led to other offices. To this day I don't know what his name was; everyone just called him "Sir".

Samus sat in the middle, across the desk facing the Federation head, with Dr. Reyman and I flanked on either side. I found the chairs uncomfortable; they were very plush and soft, like the "bed". I suppose hominids' delicate bodies made them prefer soft things.

To my surprise, Samus took off her helmet as she sat down. I'd thought she would want to appear as forceful as possible, but maybe she thought it was to show some deference if she was about to ask a favor.

"Sir, you know that Dr. B is not a threat," Samus told him. "Dr. Reyman has worked extensively with Dr. B, and you know I can't stomach Space Pirates."

"Ms. Aran, Dr. B attacked one of our scientists," the Federation head said firmly. "Yes, he was conducting unauthorized experiments, but he is being punished appropriately for that. We can't have Dr. B or anyone else taking matters into their own hands like that."

I felt secretly pleased upon hearing that Dr. Ita was facing the consequences for his actions. I had been afraid that he would get away with this, too. Though at the very least the subject of his studies was no longer in existence…so all his research was worthless!

"It's fine if you don't want to keep him here," said Dr. Reyman. "I'd much rather have him with us, anyway. Why won't you let him return to Ceres?"

"Despite his intentions, or lack of them, he's still a security risk. I can't allow that."

Both Dr. Reyman and Samus scowled. But while Dr. Reyman looked frustrated, Samus looked almost threatening. "Well, I suppose Dr. B doesn't _need_ to work for the Federation," she said slowly. "I'm sure he can work well enough on commission, with me…on other assignments."

The Federation head blanched. It was true; Samus only worked for the Federation because they paid her, and because her goals often were often the same. But she could just as easily work on her own…

Dr. Reyman smiled at him, but he frowned and turned back to Samus. "I'm sure you can work quite well on your own. Of course, there aren't many organizations on this side of the galaxy that have our mechanical and medical capabilities, are there?"

He had a point. Samus would not have survived Dark Samus' attack if the Federation had not brought her to the medic unit. And even though she could repair almost any problem with her ship, she would eventually have to buy new parts. I wondered how much it cost her to keep it running. And how much less sophisticated organizations could afford to pay her.

The two of them stared each other down. It reminded me a little of the game I had played with Tirza and Oltar. They called the condition a "stalemate".

"Well, Sir, I don't really have any issue with the Federation," Samus said at last. "I just figured that you might have the courtesy to grant me a small favor…all things considered."

"I don't generally grant favors," he said firmly. "You can't really complain about corruption among my scientists and then ask me for favors. Regardless of what one of them might have done."

"Well, if you had a mission for me, I'd be more than happy to take it," she replied. "But I'll want my usual fee…_and_ a place for Dr. B at Ceres."

He took out his hand computer and laid it on the table for her to see. "Well, for a fee like that, I'd have to give you a high-level assignment."

She picked it up and scanned it, frowning. "I don't understand."

"The Metroids are a menace to the galaxy," the Federation Head said, addressing all of us. "We can't afford to have the Space Pirates breed more of those mutant ones for their twisted purposes. Lucky for us, the Space Pirates have to occasionally get native ones from the source, to keep the gene pool usable."

"But you want me to kill all the Metroids?" Samus demanded. "All of them in the galaxy? That's impossible."

"Not all in the galaxy. Just all of them on SR388," he said. "Those are the purebred ones, the source of all the mutants. Once those are gone, the mutants will eventually die out."

Dr. Reyman nodded with enthusiasm. "He's right, Samus. Metroid DNA is very fragile…it doesn't hold up under forced mutation. And it can't seem to adapt well off its home planet. I've never seen a Metroid colony off SR388 last more than fifty years."

"But you cannot eliminate an entire species!" I exclaimed, distressed. "You don't know what will happen! The Metroids must serve some purpose, even if it isn't useful to hominids or Space Pirates!"

The Federation head gave me a pointed look. "That's the only high-level assignment we have at this moment," he said. "Given the destruction of Phaaze and the disarray of the Space Pirates since the invasion of their home world, another one like that won't come along soon."

"It's fine," Samus said. "I'll take the assignment."

"No, Samus!" I urged. "There is so much we still don't know about Metroids! Even if you have no interest in studying them as they are, you don't know what consequences…"

"Be quiet, Dr. B," she snapped. Then, more softly, "I'm doing this for you."

"But…" I wanted to return to Ceres, but I did not want to bring about the extinction of an entire species to do it! Didn't they find it odd that a former Space Pirate was trying to convince them _not_ to kill things?

"We'll talk about this later, on the way back to Ceres," she told me, watching me steadily. "I promise."

"Well, you have all the mission information, so the sooner you get started, the better," the Federation head said. He glanced at a clock on his desk. "After all, you only have a few hours before Dr. B needs to leave."

"Of course." They stood, and I followed. "I'll return once the mission is finished," Samus said, putting her helmet back on, then turned and left the room. Dr. Reyman and I followed.

For some reason, even though I had gained my freedom and regained my position at Ceres, I did not feel happy at all.


	9. Chapter 9

The Galactic Federation gave us an escort to Samus' ship. They had probably been ordered to make sure I did not go wandering off, but they ended up trying to ensure no fights broke out as the occasional hominid shouted a few choice threats.

"Wait!" a voice shouted as we neared the docking bay. "Hold up!"

We turned to see Dr. Jamison running towards us, panting. Samus looked to me for guidance. "It's all right," I told her. "I know him."

Out of breath, he stepped heavily toward us and paused for a few moments. "Dr. B," he said at last, "I want to apologize to you. I knew what Dr. Ita did was wrong, but he threatened to end my career if I got in his way."

I stared. "But you are the head of the medic wing," I said. "Surely Dr. Ita did not have that kind of power over you?"

Scowling, Dr. Jamison replied, "Dr. Ita has powerful friends. He made many over the years during his research into both bioweapons and conventional arms."

"Why did you not report this to the Federation head?" Samus asked quietly. He flinched. "You might have had to deal with retribution for a while, but was your career worth more than the lives of the bounty hunters that succumbed to Phazon corruption?"

"You broke your oath!" Dr. Reyman pointed out. "How can you call yourself a doctor after that?"

"Look, you're not going to want to hear this," Dr. Jamison said, averting his eyes. "But to the Federation, bounty hunters - _most_ bounty hunters - are just cannon fodder." Samus shifted her stance and he stepped back. "The Federation sends them out on death missions knowing that most will never return to collect their fees. The bodies are brought back for analysis. All data about the threat is gleaned from whatever they can recover." He looked at the floor, the ceiling, anywhere but at her. "Look…I'm just a man. Not all of us…not all of us can be heroes."

After a moment, Samus nodded once, and then turned to me. "Goodbye, Dr. Jamison," I said. "I'm sorry things turned out this way."

"Good luck, Dr. B," he called out after we turned away. "I hope things turn out better for you at Ceres."

Once inside Samus' ship, Dr. Reyman fell asleep in one of the cargo spaces. It turned out he had been awake for 24 hours straight, trying to help Samus get me out of the brig. But Samus was still wide awake, as was I.

"Dr. B, can I ask you something?" she said at length. "When I woke up, I was told that the PED modification had to be made to save my life. Is this true?"

"No, it is not!" Suddenly I realized why Samus had not objected to the modifications; she had been told she had no other choice. "I wanted to find a way to draw off the Phazon energy completely. But Dr. Ita insisted that it be channeled into a weapon. He said there was no way for you to fight without it."

She said nothing for a long, long time. Even though her helmet was off, I had a hard time trying to figure out what she was thinking. At last she said, "I suppose that's true…that I would have needed a Phazon weapon. But…" Here a little crinkle appeared on her forehead where her eyebrows meet. "That…was a mistake on their part…"

"I begged them not to," I told her. "But just before you awoke, Dr. Ita sent me to Ceres to get my new arm. When I came back you were gone."

She smiled suddenly, as if grateful for the change in conversation. "How is your arm, Dr. B?"

I demonstrated for her by pulling up information on my hand computer. "It works quite well. Siskin did an excellent job!"

"I'm glad to hear it. It will make your work at Ceres much easier."

"But…what work will I do? There is no more Phazon, and if there are no more Metroids…"

"I'm sure Dr. Reyman can find something for you." We could hear him snoring in the cargo area.

"Samus…" I never liked raising a topic that angered her, but this was important. "Samus, I don't think you should go through with this mission. We don't know what the Metroids…"

The smile on her face vanished, replaced by irritation. "Enough about the damn Metroids," she snapped. "They don't belong on the other planets, and if no one misses Phaaze, I doubt getting rid of one species on SR388 will make a difference." She paused. "I hate that desolate rock."

"But Samus, the Others have wracked such havoc on other planets by modifying the species there."

"Dr. B, I'm getting _rid_ of these killing machines, not making _more_."

I fidgeted, the digits on my hands clicking against each other. It was a nervous habit I had developed in my static confinement. "Samus, can I ask you to do one thing for me? I know I've asked so much, but…"

She sighed. "What is it, Dr. B?"

"Bring back some tissue, or some other sample…enough to get a DNA signature…just in case we discover it was a mistake. I'm sure the Federation will order that any Metroids they have be destroyed, and the Others never keep samples of original creatures…only successful versions of the things they create."

She considered this. "Oh, all right," she said at last. "I'm sure I can scrape up enough of a sample out of what's left for you."

I sighed in relief. I cannot say what drove me to insist this. After all, all evidence pointed to the conclusion that the Federation had already made. I can only assume it was the silent whisper of my _I_.

Eager to change the subject, I asked, "Did you say that you were on the Others' homeworld?"

She nodded.

"Did you blow it up, too?"

Laughing, she replied, "No, Dr. B, no. That's a pretty big mission even for me. Can't say I didn't try, though." Suddenly she gave me a serious look. "Would you be upset if I did?"

I considered this. "I don't care if you destroy the Others," I said. "I told you, when we first met, that it was inevitable. But…I must confess that I am curious as to what the homeworld looks like. I have never been there."

She gave me a look of surprise. "Never?"

I shook my head. "I have never been on any planets other than Zebes and Tallon IV. Many of the Others have never been to the homeworld. I must confess that I have not been curious about it until now. Do you ever think of going to…to…" I suddenly realized that I didn't know the name of the homeworld of the Samus-type hominids. It was probably not even in this galaxy.

She shook her head. "When I first signed up with the Federation army, I checked the birth and death records. There hasn't been an Aran living on Earth in over 300 years. I think they were one of the first pioneers to leave the galaxy."

"Did you find any other Arans?" I was instantly sorry I had asked this.

After a moment, she said, "Not that were alive."

I knew that hominids could have genetic similarities but different 'family' names, so it was possible that she had other 'relatives', but I decided it was best not to ask.

To my great surprise, the message board that showed departures, delays, and arrivials said _WELCOME BACK, DR. B_ across the top. "That's not a standard message."

Dr. Reyman laughed. He had awakened when the ship signaled arrival at Ceres. "I had Denise in Administration fix that up."

"What for?" I asked, in all seriousness.

He grinned. "To show you that even if the Federation doesn't appreciate you, we do."

We had no work that day. Dr. Reyman's entire team, the whole group that had come to meet me on the first day, were in one of the large conference rooms with many different kinds of sustenance on the tables. When we entered the room they all cheered. Lydia ran up to me. "Hi, Dr. B! It's good to see you again finally!" She turned to my side. "Ooh, are you Samus Aran?"

Samus clapped one hand onto my shoulder. "Well, it looks like you're in good hands here, Dr. B. I'll see you after my next mission, ok?"

"But wait!" I tried to follow her, but a wall of well-wishers blocked my way. I watched her walk away, wishing I could go with her.

"Dr. B!" Tirza nearly yelled into my ear. "Hey, I asked you a question! Did you really get Dr. Ita suspended from Federation research?"

I turned to her. "I'm not sure, really. I only know he was being punished in some way.

I heard deep laughter, a voice I had not heard before. Then I realized that I recognized the voice, I just never heard the laugh. Oltar pushed through the group carrying something brightly colored and slightly wobbly on a tray. "So, the great and powerful Dr. Ita, laid low by a Space Pirate."

"I am not a Space Pirate," I reminded him.

"Yes, and that is why I am offering you this," he said as he held out the tray to me. The bright wiggly blobs appeared to be moving. "Here is a delicacy among Amadeans, very hard to find. You taste it, tell me what you think."

I picked up one of the blobs and crushed it between my mandibles. Several of the hominids made disgusted looks, but despite the strange texture, it actually had a pleasant taste. "It is quite good," I said to him.

Tirza appeared, chuckling. "Eh, Dr. B, now Oltar will spend his whole salary on those things just so that he can share them with you."

Rilphis, one of the Dilphii, pointed to my cybernetic arm. "I heard about Siskin's work. It is even better than I expected. He wanted to come today, but he had some pressing matters of his own to take care of. Tell me, Dr. B, what were the facilities of the Federation Headquarters like?"

The group peppered me with questions, mostly about the place I had just left. They wanted to know about the facilities, the experiments, the people who worked there. Nearly all of them seemed to want to work there instead of Ceres, even though I was apparently not the only person treated badly there.

"I don't understand," I said to Tirza toward the end, when most of the people had gone off to sleep. "It was a very difficult place to work."

"It's prestige, mostly," she said. "People want to feel they are part of something important."

"Isn't Ceres important?"

She laughed. "Not really, not in the grand scheme of things, anyway." She gave me a wry look. "Ceres is where you get sent if you're good, but don't have any influence."

"Influence?"

"Yeah…meaning you know people in high places. People who will promote you over others with the same or better talent."

"Isn't that corruption?"

She nodded. "It is. I don't suppose the Others can become corrupt, without an _I_. It means you want things for yourself and will do anything to get it."

"But the others do go after anything they can get."

"As a whole, yes. You've never heard of a Space Pirate doing what he wanted, have you? Except for you, of course."

This was getting more and more confusing. "Does that make me 'corrupt'?"

Tirza shook her head. "You understand ethics, Dr. B. Kind of sad, really, a former Space Pirate being more ethical than some in the higher echelons of the Federation. Though…I guess it wouldn't really occur to a Space Pirate to do anything other than what he's been ordered to do."

"I don't know about that," I said slowly. "There were no ethics rules on the Federation station, but when they started experimenting on Samus…"

She gave me a slap on the back that I believe was supposed to be friendly, but that nearly knocked me over. "Listen to your _I_, Dr. B. Space Pirates don't have a soul, but you do."

"What is a 'soul'?"

"It's like an _I_, but it rules your morals as well as your sentience. It guides you where you _should_ go, whereas your _I_ directs you where you _want _to go."

I didn't see the difference between the two, but something about it seemed appealing to me. "So I have my own Code of Ethics?"

She nodded. "And it's a good one, too. Make sure you follow it, Dr. B, and everything should turn out all right for you."


	10. Chapter 10

I greatly appreciated being able to go back to a normal routine at Ceres. I settled back into my original work, testing samples from unexplored planets to see if they had any potential for mineral wealth or settlement. We stopped at intervals for eating time, and I got to sample many more hominid foods that I had not been able to eat properly before. Although Lydia still persisted in asking me odd questions, it did not seem to bother me much anymore. I had figured out how to distinguish everyday human chatter, used for forming social bonds, and essential information.

One day, a guest from another research facility came to visit Dr. Reyman. I was at my lab station when a hominid came in, about the same age as Dr. Reyman but female. She greeted him with the usual handshake and they proceeded with the chatter. I stayed at my station and ignored it for the most part, as it did not concern me.

Of course, I had earned a certain degree of notoriety, being not only a "Space Pirate" in the employ of the Federation, but also an individual who had disgraced an important scientist. The various teams at Ceres, however, seemed to see that second item as a good thing.

Dr. Reyman led her around the room to introduce her to the team. As they came to me, she flinched slightly when I extended my hand. I had gotten used to this reaction, so it did not offend me at all. I merely waited a few moments for her to collect herself and then completed the ritual.

"Melinda, this is Dr. B. Dr. B, this is Melinda Almar. She is one of the head scientists at Biologic Space Laboratories, and a friend of mine from the Federation Academy." Dr. Reyman smiled at Melinda's slightly bewildered expression.

"Pleased to meet you," I said, after searching a bit for the correct hominid expression.

"Yes," she said abruptly, then composed herself and said, "I'm pleased to meet you as well. Dr. Reyman has told me that you are one of his best scientists."

"There are many good scientists on Ceres."

She smiled, and relaxed slightly. "Modest, too. What are you working on, Dr. B?"

I held up the organic sample I had been analyzing. "This was taken from a planet called A-113. There is plant matter in it that is devoid of many of the toxins that we see on other planets orbiting the same sun. The conditions may be favorable for setting up a new Federation base there."

"I'm pleased to hear it." We chatted a little while longer, and then Dr. Reyman led her to meet the other members of the team. To my surprise, Dr. Reyman shook her hand again just before she left the room.

"Excuse me," I said to him. "But out of curiosity…for what reason did you repeat the greeting ritual? Surely early hominids would not need to check for weapons in the hands of one they had deemed a friend, and before they departed?"

He laughed. "I guess that's not a part of the original ritual. You shake hands again when it's someone you've met on a professional basis, or if it's someone you probably won't see again. It's just a little more formal than hello and goodbye." With a wave, he said, "It's time for the shift change, so I'll see you later, Dr. B."

I turned back to my lab station, but Oltar put a hand on my shoulder. "Enough work!" he said with vigor. "My friend, you have too little fun. Now is time for chess!"

I had no objections. I was looking forward to another game, but I felt odd asking. I could never tell when other creatures wanted to sleep, or eat, or do "fun" things. So I just let them take the lead. I followed Oltar to the recreation era and he set up the board. I won a game, and he won a game, and we were just working on the tie-breaker when I heard the familiar ring of Chozo armor on metal.

I looked up to see Samus carrying a species sample tube, and inside the tube a little blob floated lazily back and forth. I recognized it immediately as an infant Metroid, though I wondered what she had done to it in order to make it so docile. Even the hatchlings dislike confinement; and really, if you had just burst out of an egg, would you want to be shut into another one?

"Hello, Samus!" I exclaimed happily. "Is that the species sample I asked you to keep for me?"

"Sort of." She had her helmet on, but there was an odd tone to her voice that I picked up as unusual. "Dr. B, could you come with me to the lab for a bit - alone?"

Oltar scowled. "Always work with you two," he said. "Bah! Life is short. You should make as much of it as you can."

"But I like science," I objected.

He sighed. "Take Lab G. It has a setup for live specimens. Also no one would be using it this time of day."

I led Samus to Lab G, and locked the door behind us. She set the sample tube down on one of the tables. I stepped closer to the infant Metroid and its behavior changed to a more normal pattern, making little squeak-snarls at me and bopping against the glass. "I would like to take some cell samples. But what do you want to talk about first?"

Samus took off her helmet, frowning. "I killed all the Metroids on SR388 except for this one. I was just going to give you a cell sample, but…" Her face shifted slightly as a range of emotions I couldn't identify rushed through her. "I found it in a nest at the end of the mission. It hatched just as I walked in, and….well, here, let me show you."

She unsealed the sample tube, and the little creature shot out. It hurled itself at me, but of course as an infant it could not pierce my hard exoskeleton. Instead it bumped against me, making tiny growls.

"Stop that," she said to it. I would have asked why she bothered giving the thing orders, as she knew they were just as useless as I did. But to my great surprise, the little Metroid made a happy chirp and floated over to her, moving in a circle around her head.

"Fascinating!" I tried to move closer to get a better look, but of course it only turned and attempted its ineffectual attack. "I have never seen a Metroid react that way before."

It gave up on me and floated over to some of the containment cages, latching itself onto one of them. "Bad Metroid!" Samus yelled at it, and I felt a bizarre urge to laugh as the hominids did. I was still not used to humor, but it was all just so out-of-place, it had an odd effect on my brain. "Bad! Stop eating the specimens!" She walked over to it and batted it away, and the little creature resumed its orbit around her head.

She gave me an almost helpless look. "What am I supposed to do with it, Dr. B? Does it think I'm it's mother?"

This stumped me. She often came up with strange hypotheses, but this was by far the strangest. "Why would you say that? Metroids reproduce asexually. Their 'eggs' are more like spores. They would not imprint on you like a vertebrate, but…" I thought for a bit. "There were Space Pirates that would attempt to keep Metroids as pets, and attempt to tame them from the moment they hatched. Of course, Space Pirates are not gentle. The Metroid they raised as a pet one day might be used for target practice the next. They would also attempt to train them as hunters, sending the Metroids out ahead to eat any potential threats. But of course the Metroids reacted poorly to this kind of negative stimulus, and often viewed their handlers as little more than another potential meal.

"In addition," I went on, "although Metroids for the most part are solitary hunters, they do live in swarms and the immature ones will often join a flock of elders for protection. This one here," I said as I gestured to the creature, now making burbling sounds as it sat on her head, "likely sees you as another Metroid. A flock mate, perhaps. They would have to be able to identify their own species upon hatching; otherwise they would all eat each other."

Samus gingerly prodded the pinkish-green blob with one finger. "So how can it tell the difference between me and someone else? They don't have eyes, or ears, or a sense of smell."

"Your energy signature. Every individual bio-form has a unique energy signature. They identify food in this way…living creatures versus mechanical energy, or Phazon."

"Why would it need to flock together for protection? What would attack it?"

"Well…Space Pirates, for one."

Samus lifted it off her head and held it in the palm of her hand. "What should I do with it, Dr. B? I can't bring it on missions with me, especially once it gets big enough to eat people."

"You can leave it here," I suggested.. "I would like to research it."

She frowned, hesitant. "That seems…mean."

"Mean? I'm not familiar with this word. It sounds like you're afraid of being cruel."

"Well, it is kind of cruel, isn't it? Leaving it here to be poked and prodded by scientists. Would it be upset with me for leaving?"

She certainly came up with some bizarre concepts. "Samus, Metroids do not have an _I. _As long as we do not hurt it and keep it fed, it will be content. Remember, although they form flocks, they don't form bonds with other individuals."

"Oh, all right," she said at last, placing it back into the containment tube. "I trust you, Dr. B. I'll leave it in your capable hands." She ran her hand through her hair. "Do you mind if I crash at your place? I'm exhausted, I'm tired of sleeping in my ship, and if I ask for accommodation I'll just have people knocking on my door bugging me all the time."

It took me a few moments to figure out what she meant. I had never heard the word "crash" used in that context before. "Certainly, if you wish. I never use the 'bed' anyway."

She grinned. "I figured as much, that's why I asked. I don't want to be a nuisance."

"I don't think that's possible," I replied, in all seriousness. She laughed.

* * *

After we secured the Metroid, I led her to my quarters where she used the cleaning facility, something else I had never touched. If I was contaminated by some specimen in the lab, I used the laboratory shower.

She emerged in the blue outfit she wore under her suit. "Do you mind if I use your food replicator? I've been living on energy capsules for a month now."

"Not at all. It makes very good cheeseburgers."

"I want a steak." The tantalizing smell from the dish that emerged from the replicator spurred me to ask for my own. I could see why she would want an abundance of protein, if she was tired.

"I only sleep for about three hours," I told her. "But you are welcome to use this room as long as you want. I must return to the lab once I am finished sleeping."

"Sounds good to me. I won't stay long, I can't hang around Ceres forever." She made it sound as if she had another mission, but I could sense she was somewhat nervous around other hominids. I propped myself up against the wall, and she got into the bed, falling asleep soon afterward.

It felt good to provide for someone who had given me so much.

* * *

"It's so cute!" Lydia exclaimed as she tapped the Metroid's glass, which it did not like. "What's its name?"

What an odd question. "It is not a sentient being. Does it require a name?"

Dr. Reyman frowned at her. "We don't normally name the specimens. You know that."

"Yes, for if you name it, then you get attached to it." Tirza stared at it with distaste. "Should we even be keeping the thing in here? What happens if Federation HQ finds out? All these are supposed to be dead."

Dr. Reyman stood with his finger crooked over his nose, his elbow resting on his other arm, a position he assumed while in deep thought. "I know…but I agree with Dr. B that the Federation's decision was a rash one. I have a feeling they will regret assigning Ms. Aran that most recent mission."

"Regardless," said Oltar, "we will regret keeping it if HQ finds out."

Giving him a sideways glance, Dr. Reyman said, "It's not like you to get cold feet, Oltar."

He made an indelicate sound. "I wish to defy the Federation as well! I am merely stating the obvious."

"Okay, then here's what we will do." Dr. Reyman set the containment tube over on one side of the lab. "We're going to close Lab G, say we had a minor contamination issue. Just serious enough to keep people out, but a small enough issue that it doesn't require calling in anyone above my rank. If nothing else, maybe we'll just have to call Ms. Aran back and ask her to find a better home for it." He looked at me. "Can you contact her?"

I nodded. "I believe so. I told her I would only call her in an emergency, and such a thing has not come up yet."

Dr. Reyman smiled, a hint of rebellion in his eyes. "All right then, it's decided."


	11. Chapter 11

One of the first things to do, I decided, was to take a cell sample of the Metroid hatchling anyway. If the Federation did take it away, and we discovered in the interm that its absence on SR-388 caused some kind of imbalance, then we would need a back-up for cloning purposes.

I cut my eating time short so that I could hurry back to Lab G and take the sample without anyone noticing. I had decided early on to keep the sample on my person at all times. The extinction of a species is not to be taken lightly, and I decided I would give the sample to Samus at my next opportunity. It would be safest with her.

When I opened the door to Lab G, I startled someone else already in the room. Lydia made a startled little squeak and jumped away from the baby Metroid. "Oh! Oh, Dr. B, it's just you."

"Hello Lydia. Did you want to examine the Metroid?" There was really no reason for her to be there.

"Oh, oh no, it's just…I wanted to take a look at it again. If something happens to it, I'll never get the opportunity again, you know?" She pulled at her lab coat and clothing as if straightening it. Giving me a nervous look, she said, "It's so cute…can I touch it?"

"It's probably best if you don't handle it," I advised. "Especially since it already associates hominids with food."

"Oh, you're right, of course. Well, I had better be going." She gave me a hurried smile and left the room.

Back to business. I found a sampling syringe and opened the cylinder's top, catching the little creature as it flew up to attack me. To my surprise, it struggled harder when I produced the syringe. I had not thought it would be able to figure out what it was so quickly. After I took the sample, I put it back in the tube, where the Metroid bobbed around grumpily. In spite of myself, I actually wondered if it felt the same way I did about Samus's absence; in its own non-sentient, instinctual way.

Was it possible for a Metroid to develop an _I? _I doubted it. But then, that had never been on my list of studies when I was with the Others. My work done, I stored the cell sample tube (made of a nearly unbreakable translucent material) in one of the small storage chambers in my exoskeleton. There are some of the Others whose bodies had been modified to be little more than walking supply packs; my own storage pockets were small and not noticeable.

I returned to the main lab, and then after another long but productive day, I retired to my chambers.

I was awakened by the loudest noise I had ever heard in my life. It was not so much a noise as a _disturbance_; a massive attack of numerous stimuli on my sensory organs. Quickly a series of crashes and bangs followed, the shrill scream of the emergency alarm piercing through all of it. The lights went out, but the noise continued for several moments, then fell still as stone save for the shrieking alarm.

I pressed my hand to the door panel, but it did not budge. I opened the small hatch where the manual door crank had been built, but found to my surprise that it did not work either. In the total darkness, I pulled down the infrared sensor I had stolen from the Elite Pirate and stared about the room. Head radiated from the walls, an indication that energy wires had been severed.

Something had slammed so hard against the wall from the other side that it formed a bulge on my end.

Puzzled and a little worried, I dug my claws into the door frame, searching for the place where the door itself met the frame. Grabbing hold, I pulled with all my might, my cybernetic arm straining and my natural arm laced with an uncomfortably familiar pain. Inch by inch, I forced the door open enough to squeeze through, and looked around for the object that had slammed against the wall.

It was a cooking machine from the kitchen. The only reason I could see it was that it was still warm. I could not comprehend this at first. What was a cooking machine doing so far from the kitchen, and what could possibly have thrown it with such force?

Suddenly I heard the reserve generators kick in, and some of the emergency lights came on. The alarm stopped - not winding down, as it did in the drills, but cut short as if someone had snipped it with a scissors.

My _I_ whispered warnings. I ducked back into my quarters, shouldered my missile launcher, and pulled at the door again until I had enough room for both me and my weapon. Looking cautiously around, I kept my infrared sensor on and used my other eye to see through the visible spectrum.

I found the first corpse when I turned the corner into the hallway. It was the security director. His skull had been crushed. His plasma rifle lay under him. The body was still quite warm.

I proceeded carefully, coming across more corpses, lots more. Hominids, Dilphii, even Amadeans. I could not see very well in the dim light, but at first I saw no one I recognized. What had done this? My first thought was an explosion; there was no evidence of fire from a heat blast, but the way people and things had been thrown about the hall suggested a massive wall of blunt force. Perhaps explosive decompression. The colony was designed with emergency covers if the hull was breached, but it could not prevent a few seconds of violent air displacement.

I considered Space Pirates, too, but at first I could see no evidence of them. I did not hear or see any, and there were no slicing or weapons marks on the corpses. As I walked carefully down the corridor, the flotsam and jetsam deposited in the destruction made a sharp turn to the right, towards the labs.

I didn't realize I had started running until I tripped over one of the bodies. As I turned back to see what I had fallen over, I recognized Lydia's face. She stared up at the ceiling with an expression of extreme terror. Her entire chest and abdomen had been crushed.

The door to Lab G was gone. Completely ripped from its sliding frame. I stumbled through the opening and stared around the room, littered with corpses of both sentient and non-sentient beings. Whatever had come in the room had exited through the same way, so it was likely the Disturbance had some purpose here.

The infant Metroid was gone.

I ran frantically around the room, trying to find some clue as to what had taken it. Who besides the Ceres team and Samus knew it was here? Surely the Federation would not do this? As I looked around I noticed that some of the corpses had slash wounds, from an enormous sharp weapon of some kind. One body lay face down, three great rents in its back from its shoulders to the hip. I turned the crimson-stained corpse over to see if it would yield any more clues.

It was Dr. Reyman.

I froze. Even though I had seen dead hominids many times when I worked with the Others, Lydia's corpse had frightened me and now I stood unable to move as I stared at Dr. Reyman's lifeless face. My _I_ reacted oddly, insisting he was not dead, could not be dead, even though I knew very well that he was.

I felt strange. It was hard to breathe. It hurt. It _hurt!_

I could not stand properly and crouched down on the floor, my hands flat. I hoped that like fear, this strange negative feeling from my _I_ would pass. But it did not. It ebbed slightly, but that was all.

I had to find out what had done this, but I did not want to leave Dr Reyman, even though he was not Dr. Reyman anymore…only a corpse. I would never speak to Dr. Reyman again. He no longer existed.

At length, in that dim, silent place, I thought I could hear him speaking.

_You shake hands again when it's someone you probably won't see again. _

I knew it made no logical sense, but my _I_ protested just leaving him there. I had neither the time nor the knowledge for a proper hominid death rite. This was all I could think of.

His hand was still warm. I grasped it once, then let it fall. Then I stood, and adjusted my missile launcher in preparation to face whatever had done this.

Just then, I heard a rustling sound nearby. I whirled round to see one of the Amadeans raise his head ever so slightly. It was Oltar. "Dr. B. Tirza…find Tirza."

I rushed to his side, but could see immediately that his injuries were far too serious for me to treat. I would have tried anyway, but he snapped at my hand when I placed it near his head. "Go find Tirza! She is…emergency generator…it cut off the distress signal. So she left to use the backup…"

"What cut off the distress signal? What did this?"

"The fighting machine…" his jaw twitched slightly as he struggled to form words. "Go now! Go help Tirza!"

I had no idea what the "fighting machine" could be, but there was no time to figure it out. With my missile launcher securely strapped to my back, I leaped through the torn doorframe and bolted down the hallway toward the emergency backup generators.

My speed quickened as I noticed the path of destruction turned right and left just as I did, no doubt pursuing Tirza as she ran. She might still be alive, I reasoned. The others had likely fallen before they could react, or because they were defending the Metroid. Tirza was strong, she knew what was going on, she was smart, she had a plan…

Only once did I slow down the slightest bit, still apprehensive that I might run across a Space Pirate or something equally dangerous. Despite my extra visual tools, there was little I could do if the attacker waited for me behind a sharp turn. I quickened my pace anyway, up to my limit, fearing that the silence meant that I had long lost both the invader and any hope of finding anyone alive.

Finally I reached the backup generators, and I felt a thrill of euphoria as I heard their vibrant thrumming and saw the emergency beacon on-line. But my ecstatic mood instantly dropped into dismal depths when I saw the scaly body on the floor. Tirza's wide eyes stared at me from the other side of the room.

Something had cut cleanly through the neck of an Amadean, metal-hard scales and sinewy flesh that even my weapon arm could not have even scratched. Fear rushed through me as I realized that the trail of destruction ended here. Unless it could pass through walls - something highly unlikely - the thing that had killed Tirza was _still in the room!_

On the edge of panic, I scanned the area with both my eyes and the infrared sensor. Could it shrink to a tiny size? Was it only visible as X-rays? Did it enter the minds of other bio-forms, rendering them mad and driving them to both murder and suicide?

Out of nowhere, a swift blow hit me hard across the chest and I felt something sharp rake deep scratches into my exoskeleton. I rammed hard into the opposite wall and fell to the floor. As I staggered to my feet I heard the angry shriek of the Metroid. Was it doing this? Was this some mutant? Last Metroid or not, I could not allow this monster to escape. I fired one of my missiles at the place where the sound seemed to come from.

The missile appeared to explode in mid-air, and then I heard a ragged, furious, metallic roar. It sounded like the battle cry of a robot army. Then, before my astonished eyes, a giant form began to appear. Bright metal, joints that moved with fluid grace, the fighting-machine grasped the Metroid's glass tube with…claws?

The teeth, the tail, the claws, the wings…

_Ridley_.

No, my _I_ protested. It could not be Ridley. Not out of fear, not out of denial. It called out to a fellow _I _and received nothing in return. It took a few moments for the dissonance in my mind to stop, think, fit it together.

Ridley had lost his _I_.

I recoiled in horror, not from the swipe of his perfect metallic claws but from the disturbing _wrongness_ that radiated from his robotic shell. This thing had once been Ridley, before Samus had sent it to its death on Tallon IV. It might have even had some bruised part of Ridley's brain, some true intelligence and not an AI, that the Others had patched together in one of their experiments. But now all that was left was this shell, this fighting-machine. It did not see the traitor, 8411-B. It only saw an obstacle it needed to destroy.

And that was all the more frightening.

It lunged for me, and I fled back down the corridor. Behind me I loosed half of my missiles, attempting to slow it down or throw up some debris in its path. It roared in anger, but kept up its pursuit. I turned a hard left onto one of the undamaged corridors and raced toward the escape pods.

I was only a few paces away when a clawed hand struck me across the side and threw me into one of the recreation areas, a large open space used for running and chasing various-sized balls. The robot-Ridley burst through the thin wall, scattering metal shards and insulation fibers everywhere. As I ran to the other side it leaped in front of me, throwing its tail down in my path. It slammed one of its claws down upon me and I lay pinned to the floor, head to the side and facing the infant Metroid. The baby made an excited squeak of joy.

Before I could even finish my thought, that the little creature had somehow led Ridley here, that conclusion blew apart with the blast of a power cannon.

"_Dr. B!_"

Samus was there. Of course it was Samus. The only person for parsecs that would have picked up the distress signal and that had the resources for a deep-space rescue. She fired on robot-Ridley again, taking care not to hit me or the Metroid. The fighting-machine reared, swiped and snapped at her, without any pretext or threats one would expect from the sworn enemy of the Hunter. If she noticed this, she gave no indication, merely unloading her cannon upon it again and again.

Suddenly I felt myself being heaved bodily into the air, and thrown violently forward. I crashed into something, rolled over several times, and raised my head just in time to see robot-Ridley charge into the opposite wall.

"Run, Dr. B!" Samus shouted at me as she pulled me to my feet. "There's no way the emergency system will hold a breach that big!"

Even as I turned and ran, I heard a resounding crash, followed by a blaring alarm and an automated voice. "_Explosive decompression. Collapse imminent."_

"Samus!" I tried to make myself heard over the alarms. "The others…there might still be some alive!"

"No time! Run faster, Dr. B!" She picked up her own pace, moving at a surprising speed in her bulky armor. "Anyone who will survive would have already left in the escape pods!"

My mind flashed back to Oltar. Doubtless he would have succumbed to his wounds by now, yet I did not want to leave him here as Ceres imploded around him. Samus tugged at me when I slowed ever so slightly, jerking me out of my thoughts. I kept my eyes on her back as she led us out of the colony and back to her ship.

We leaped inside, and with a hurried smattering of button-mashing Samus pulled the ship out of Ceres' hangar. She turned around sharply and gunned the engine, and we had only gone a short distance before the shockwave of the collapsing space station caught up with us. It rattled her ship back and forth, up and down, but she kept her hands firm on the steering unit. Finally the ship calmed somewhat, and I looked back to see a cloud of debris where Ceres had been.

Something pulled at my brain and I felt violently ill, a strange vertigo taking hold. As I clutched my head and bent over Samus asked, "Are you all right?"

"No. I…" I struggled to put my illness into words. "I hurt," I said weakly.

"That scratch looks pretty bad, Dr. B. Are you able to…"

"No, not that." I absently touched the gash inflicted upon my chest; it had not breached my exoskeleton, so it was not a serious wound. "Samusss…"

I heard her shift the ship into autopilot, and take off her helmet. "Dr. B? What is it?" She put her hand on my shoulder.

I said nothing at first, then tried my hardest to convey to her the collapse inside me. "My _I_…it screams in pain…it cannot hear…the others…they have…been silenced…by one…whose _I_ was stolen…" I raked my own claws against the sides of my head. "They are…they no longer exist. It was…so fast…they are…all gone…Dr. Reyman…the others…"

My _I_ forced out a guttural cry, eerily like the death screams of the Others. It eased the vertigo somewhat. But not much. "Samus…I can't…make it stop…"

She tightened her grip slightly on my shoulder, her voice low and sad. "I know, Dr. B. I know."


	12. Chapter 12

"Dr. B." My body trembled slightly from the pain, the unflagging negative pulses from my _I_, but I could still hear Samus's voice. "Dr. B, I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do right now except make sure the rest of the station escaped."

I heard the crackling of a food wrapper, smelled the scent of chocolate. "Here, Dr. B. This will make you feel a little better."

I looked at it, but made no move toward it. I recognized its enchanting smell, but registered no want for it in my brain. "I'm sorry, I have no desire for food."

She said nothing for a while. I glanced up at her and could see my own pain reflected in her eyes. "Ah…forgive me, Samus…I am reminding you of things you would rather forget…"

"It's all right, don't worry about that," she said. "It's hard the first time, and takes a long time to go away."

Then she did something odd. She wrapped her arms around me as if attempting to restrain me; but my arms were free, and where would I have gone? "Samus? What are you doing?"

She withdrew with a slight laugh. "I forgot for a moment that you're not human," she explained.

Forgot I wasn't human? I was sure I still looked every inch a Space Pirate. "Was that some kind of hominid custom?"

"It's called a hug, Dr. B. A human will do that with another human in an attempt to comfort them."

I considered this. The idea that she would consider me equal to a hominid comforted me more than the odd custom. I glanced down at my chitinite hands as Samus turned back to her controls, attempting to track the escape pods that had ejected from Ceres. Space Pirate hands and body, created from millennia of self-modification, generations of assaults on our genetic material for the sole purpose of gaining control over the galaxy.

But unlike the Others, I had an _I_. A strong _I_; stronger than Ridley's, which was lost. As strong as Samus's, perhaps, if I continued to help it grow. I glanced over at her, a delicate human face over bulky Chozo armor. Human body and mind, with Chozo DNA and fighting skills.

She and I were alike. We belonged to no one species. We were each our own species, no one else like us in the galaxy, perhaps the universe.

I felt my _I_ strengthen and solidify to a degree it had never seen before. A strange power seemed to wash over me, stabilizing my body and clearing my vision. "Samus."

She glanced up at the terminal. "Yes?"

"You are going to follow Ridley, correct?"

"Yes…"

"Will you allow me to come with you this time?"

She watched me carefully, looking for an expression to give a clue about my state of mind. Of course I had none. "It will be dangerous, Dr. B. You might not make it through this time. Ridley has likely taken the infant Metroid to some Space Pirate stronghold. Besides, he's just a machine now." I sensed a hint of bitterness in her voice. "If you're looking for some kind of satisfaction from revenge, it's not going to come. He doesn't know who you are anymore."

"I don't care," I said firmly. "Since we met, I have been working against the Others. But it is not enough. It will never be enough…until they are all destroyed." I turned to her. "You are the Hunter. Will you allow me to stay with you?"

She frowned slightly, but not for the reason I thought. "Your wounds are still fresh, Dr. B. If you rush in like this, you're just going to get yourself killed. Trust me, I know." Her eyes narrowed. "If you want to help, you have to do exactly as I say."

I nodded, firm and determined. "I will."

* * *

A Federation starship had answered the distress call, though of course all it could do at this point was pick up survivors. Samus docked her own ship, entering the Federation vessel to ask questions about where Ridley might have gone.

My appearance elicited a panicked reaction among the Federation troops. "A Space Pirate! Kill it!"

Samus pointed her own arm cannon at the advancing troops, but kept her helmet off and her head exposed. "Knock it off, guys. This is Dr. B."

They stopped, but didn't lower their weapons. The stories of my conflicts with Dr. Ita had traveled far, but the Others had conditioned Federation troopers to shoot first and ask questions later. And really, were it anyone except for me their reaction would have been appropriate. They stood at a standoff for a few moments, unsure what to do next.

"Dr. B!" A familiar voice echoed throughout the corridor. I staggered slightly, trying to determine who I knew that could still be alive. A Dilphii pushed his way through the troops. It was Siskin!

"You're alive!" Siskin exclaimed. "I'd heard that all of the people working in the specimen labs had been killed. And I saw it!" His body quivered. "I saw the Space Pirate Captain! It was in Ceres! How did you escape?"

"Samus found me." Siskin and I clasped hands. "I was lucky…I was trapped in my room when Ridley…" I stopped, wondering if I should mention the Metroid.

"Was there anyone else?" Siskin asked. "What about Dr. Reyman?"

"No. He…" My brain's signals scrambled and I seemed unable to speak. "He…he is dead."

"I…I'm very sorry, Dr. B. That is terrible news."

The Federation troops began talking amongst themselves. I don't think any of them ever considered that a Space Pirate might show distress over the death of a hominid.

"Siskin, which way did Ridley go?" Samus demanded.

Siskin pointed back over his shoulder. "I put the coordinates in my hand computer and gave it to the Federation captain on this ship."

Samus turned to me. "Dr. B, I'm going to go visit the Captain. You stay here with Siskin, okay? I'll come find you afterward."

For once I didn't argue. I didn't feel like explaining to the entire ship why I was not a threat.

The troopers dispersed, and Siskin led me to his temporary quarters. There was another Ceres survivor there, an Amadean I did not recognize; but she recognized me. I don't remember her name; I was too distressed to take in much information.

"I was in the cryogenics lab," Siskin explained. "One of my projects involves freezing injured individuals until we can put together cybernetic vital organs. Hearts, lungs, air bladders…that sort of thing. Anyway…it seemed like the whole ship shook, and then the lights went out."

"When they came on again, we got the evacuation alert," said the Amadean. "Siskin and I ran to the nearest escape pod. Just after we took off, we saw…" she shivered. "We saw the Space Pirate Captain burst out of the colony wall."

"Dr. B, why was he there? Do you have any idea?" Siskin demanded.

I stared at the floor. I could not lie, and I didn't want to mention the Metroid. Something told me that I should keep it secret, that Dr. Reyman would have cautioned me to do so. "I do not want to talk about it."

"Ah, of course," Siskin said delicately. A long, uncomfortable pause followed. Finally he stepped over to a small container. "I managed to secure a few things I was working on as we escaped. I can't do much with this, but I think it might be useful for you." He lifted up a cylindrical object, about the width of a hominid's arm. "This is a detachable arm blaster. It's not as strong as Samus's arm cannon, but you can use both hands with it and it won't run out of ammunition like your missile launcher."

"Oh?" I looked over my shoulder, completely forgetting that I'd had it with me. "Perhaps _that _is the reason the troopers were uneasy."

Siskin and the Amadean burst into laughter. I suppose it should have been obvious, but since I had been so absorbed in other matters, I hadn't thought about how people would react to my missile launcher. It occurred to me that Samus hadn't taken note of it either.

"It's all right, Dr. B," said the Amadean. "We can assume that you had other things to worry about."

We chatted for a short while longer, the mood much lighter. Finally Samus returned, looking grim. "Come on, Dr. B, we'll need to leave soon if we're going to catch up."

I bid good-bye to Siskin and followed her. She did not say another word until we were aboard her ship and headed out. "Dr. B…all the intelligence the Federation has gathered points to Zebes."

I stared. "Zebes? But you destroyed the entire colony, years ago."

She nodded. "I'm not sure why they chose Zebes. From what I heard, it sounds like they rebuilt at least part of their old stronghold. The Federation doesn't know how secure or advanced it is, but…" She trailed off.

I said nothing. I remembered Zebes, or at least part of it. I had been created there, and had lived there for a short time before being sent to Tallon IV. It was shortly after my departure that the Zebesian base had been destroyed by Samus.

Samus's eyebrows knitted together, always a sign of a foul mood. "I never thought I would have to go back to Zebes. I thought I had scrubbed them out of there…" She let out a short huff of breath. "Well, they won't be there for long."

* * *

We landed during a light rain. The rain on Zebes is slightly acidic, so I shielded my eyes. The rain could not eat through my exoskeleton, but it could injure more sensitive areas. As we emerged from the ship, Samus took a long look round, trying to determine where to start. "Dr. B, I think we should go to the old base site first. Even if they're not dumb enough to rebuild in the same place, they've likely scavenged materials from it."

I nodded. "This makes sense. If it is useful, the Others will have taken it."

We descended into a series of tunnels, a tiny but powerful lamp on Samus's helmet lighting the way. The creatures of Zebes seemed undisturbed by our presence, long since having adapted to the abandoned Pirate base. The few that attacked us could easily be taken out by Samus's arm cannon or my new blaster.

Finally, we reached the bottom of the cavern. We edged our way through a half-shut door and found ourselves in a giant room full of broken-down security devices. Samus took a preliminary glance around. "Everything seems pretty much the same as I remember."

It wasn't until she said this that I realized where she was standing. Shards of a glasslike material lay scattered at her feet. Great hulking metal pipes hung crazily around her head, as if something had been wrenched out with much difficulty and haste. All of the security devices radiated out from this spot, set up to protect what had once been there.

The Mother Brain.

Samus casually kicked away some of the shards, then jumped lightly down off the platform and headed toward the other side of the room. She had gone about halfway across before she realized I had not followed. I was examining the empty space, trying to visualize the bio-form that had once rested there.

All of us created on Zebes had been controlled by the Mother Brain. I did not remember much about it; my _I_ held such a different frame of mind, that only fleeting images came to me every now and then. I had never seen it, but had always felt its presence, until I had been transferred to Tallon IV. Then I was placed under control of Central Command, until I gained my _I._

"You all right, Dr. B?" Samus called from halfway across the room.

"Yes." I took a brief glance at the ruined structures before jumping off the platform myself. They bore all the marks of a fantastic battle. I wished I had been able to see it. "I was simply curious." I could not help but be amazed as we passed by each of the mechanical sentries, their power sources blasted apart. The most impassible security structure the Others had ever built, except for Central Command itself, and Samus had destroyed it all on her own.

"It doesn't look like anyone is here," Samus remarked. "I guess we should go back."

"One moment," I urged. "There is probably a medic station nearby. I would like to find a chitinite kit, to repair these scratches." I pointed to the rents in my exoskeleton.

She nodded, and followed as I entered several more rooms. Finally I found what I was looking for; a small metal box with a jar of liquid and a small gun-like object inside. I applied the liquid chitinite to the damaged area and used the welding gun to solidify it. After a few minutes I was as good as new.

"All finished," I said, and as I did I caught sight of something floating in the air behind Samus. I pointed, and she turned just in time to see a small round object disappear into a hole in the wall. "A sentry! We are not alone!"

I heard the familiar whine as Samus charged her arm cannon. "That confirms it. Come on, Dr. B, let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

I ran to the large opening, which tunneled straight up into the ceiling. It was probably all that was left of an elevator shaft. "I will try to stop the sentry," I announced. "This probably leads to the old security sector. I will meet you there." She gave me a quick nod and turned back the way we had come. I fired a few shots into the shaft, then climbed up the rough rock. I had been designed to easily traverse the Zebesian landscape, and scrambled straight up very quickly.

It was wide enough for me to fire one of my missiles, but the robot zipped into a side shaft that had probably once contained the elevator's source of power. I followed, barely able to squeeze through, and fired again; but a sharp turn took the blast instead of the sentry bot. I turned left, and right, and left again, just able to sense the curves in total darkness. Suddenly a circle of light appeared before me, light where there had been none before.

I skidded to a stop and peered out through the opening. Emergency lights cast the security room into a dull yellowish glow. A small group of the Others, low-level drones, stood around the sentry, staring into the monitor that displayed what it had seen. The Others erupted into shouts and one of them ordered the sentry up to the main base.

I leaped.

It was a good fifty feet below me. I caught the sentry bot as it began to rise into the air, smashing it back down onto the ground, its tough shell splintering as it broke. The Others' surprise gave me a few seconds to blast through the ring and run. I circled back and ran through the entrance leading to the medic room, jumping to the side as I caught sight of another glow. The hapless Others on my heels bore the full brunt of Samus's arm cannon.

"This all of them?" she asked as she glanced at the corpses. I nodded. "What about the sentry? How do you know it hasn't sent its information further on?"

"It was an L1-class sentry," I explained. "They are only used to watch the local life forms, to determine for instance if they are interfering with the Others' mechanics. It is not connected to the main security system. But if it had escaped, it would have gone on to notify more of the Others."

She looked over me toward the passage. "It knows how to get there? Does it have a map? Maybe I can hack it, and we can cut the time we'd otherwise spend wandering around."

"This is a good idea. I have damaged it, though."

"Let's take a look anyway."

I led her to the smashed sentry bot. "This isn't too bad," she said after examining it for a few moments. "I thought you blasted it. Give me a couple minutes." She tinkered with it for a while, and then something projected onto the inside of her helmet's visor. It obscured most of her face, but I could still see her scowl. "The main nerve center is quite a distance from here. We've got a long walk ahead of us. Better get started, I guess."

* * *

As we made our way deeper and deeper into the Zebesian caverns, I noticed some shielded wiring of a type I had not seen before. At first I did not pay much attention, but as we kept going it snaked in and out of the walls as if it were an integral part of the structure. I could recognize some of the areas where we walked, and could easily tell that these wires were much newer than the ruins of the Others' old structures. "What are you looking at?" Samus demanded.

"This structure," I said as I pulled at the shielding around it. It had rather nondescript insulation, always worth examining; the Others made their most important items easy to miss, in case of invasion from enemy forces.

"What is it?" I shook my head at Samus, nudging brightly colored wires aside as I tried to determine its purpose. Bright blue, denoting high energy. Bright red, denoting high flammability. Suddenly I dropped the shielding back in place and stumbled back so fast I bumped into Samus. "What? What's the matter?"

"It is an explosive device. It likely will not go off from our touching it, but…it's better to stay away from it anyway." I glanced around the room. "I've been following it since we left the old security chamber…and these have been weaving in and out of the walls ever since. The new control room is the likely source of the detonator."

"Okay, I can handle that," Samus said eagerly. "The old section was rigged to explode and I managed to get out of it without too much trouble."

I shook my head. "I don't remember much about the old structure, but we must make sure it does not reach into the newer areas. It has been installed with such care, it almost looks as if…as if detonated, the entire planet will be reduced to dust."

Samus didn't move. "Well, that's a problem," she said slowly. "I think we should pay attention to possible exits, then…just in case."

Nodding, I said, "Yes, that would be wise." I took a few steps into the next room and received another surprise. "Oh!"

"What? What's wrong?" Samus hurried to my side and thrust her arm cannon into the dim light.

"Nothing is wrong." I motioned for her to put her arm down. "I recognize this place…it is Pod 64."

"And what's Pod 64?"

"The place where I was created. Remember? I told you when we first met."

"Sorry, Dr. B, I can't store away information like you do. I forgot."

"It is of little importance. I am merely curious." I stepped over to what was left of the cloning machinery. The organic components - for instance the nutrient sacs where the larva would be stored until maturity - had long been eaten or decomposed. But some of the metal husks that supported the more delicate components still remained.

"So this is where Zebesian Space Pirates were made, huh?" Samus seemed both intrigued and disgusted at the same time. "And you all are just clones?"

"Yes and no. We all have the same basic DNA structure…but slight changes are made to the genes here and there, to prevent biological stagnation."

"Mmm." Samus raised her head and looked around at the battered walls, the scorched metal, the scraps lying haphazardly around the room. "How long was this 'pod' in operation, do you think?"

I thought for a bit. "It was the seventh pod on Zebes, so…probably only a few decacycles."

She made an angry little snort. I felt her blood pressure rise. "For several decades the Chozo let this fester underneath them. And I told them there were Pirates here, before I was old enough to fight well, but they said they were just exiles that had been dumped here. They should have cleaned the place out long ago! They should have known the Pirates would attack the other planets in this system! They should have let me come down here and…"

"Samus", I pointed out, "you are shouting. Someone may hear us. And," I added timidly as she quieted down ever so slightly, "If Pod 64 had been destroyed, we would have never met…in the grander scheme of things, I supposed it would have been better for you, but…"

"Oh, oh! Dr. B, forget what I said." She shook her head. "I shouldn't talk like this. The Chozo did so much for me, and I'm forgetting one of their cardinal rules…the past is past." She put her hand on my shoulder. "Let's not talk any more about it, ok?"

I thought for a moment. "May I ask one question?"

"Go ahead."

"If you had a choice…would you have preferred not to become the Hunter? I mean, you said the past is past, but…"

She stood in silence for a long while. "You know, Dr. B," she said slowly, "everything happened so early on…I can't really comprehend what things would be like if they were different. If I never came to Zebes, if Ridley…" she trailed off. "It would almost be like…you imagining what life would be like if you were born human."

I felt the urge to 'laugh'. "But that would be impossible! My genetic structure and creation is not even close to that of a hominid!"

"Well…there's your answer." She fiddled with her arm cannon's controls - something she did when unsure of what to say - and then gestured to the door on the other side of the room. "Let's leave the ghosts of this place behind. The living shouldn't spend too much time among the dead, and we've got too much to do to be dwelling on this."

I nodded. "Agreed," I said, and followed her out without looking back.

* * *

As we entered a large cavern, Samus explained to me that it had once been a holy place for the Chozo, the opening to a temple deep in the earth. She had just finished speaking when she stopped short and jabbed a finger at something in front of us. "What," she demanded in a voice thick with revulsion, "is _that_?"

I stepped around her and looked. Before us stood a large statue of several Space Pirate leaders, ones that had both an _I_ and a unique physical structure. "That is a marker."

"A marker?"

"Yes. A marker of conquest. The Others put those there when they lay claim to a planet. Usually-" I was cut off by a blast to the head of the tallest one, Kraid. His head melted and dripped bright gold on the floor. Samus walked up to the little puddle and sneered. "The Space Pirates waste time making _gold statues_ of themselves?"

"Well…it, er, is supposed to be a way of…ah, taunting the local bio-forms…oh!" I exclaimed as she blasted Ridley's head off. "Um…but there are no Chozo to see it, so…"

"Bah." Samus blasted it until there was nothing left but scorch marks and a yellow puddle on the floor. "Stupid Space Pirates. Gold isn't very sturdy."

"Well…it's made to be noticed, and they choose gold because it is an unusual color…most other elemental metals are some shade of silver, after all…"

"Whatever." She pointed to a little roiling funnel of gold, disappearing through a small hole. "The door's beneath this…we can get in through here."

We had not gone far before we came across more of the Others, lots more. They shrieked and cursed, swearing that the two of us would meet a slow death by experimentation, mutation, vivisection. Their words had no meaning as far as Samus was concerned. She mowed them down by the dozen. I suppose their threats would ring hollow in her ears after a while.

I did not fare as well. "Hominid pet!" one snarled at me, yanking on my cybernetic arm. I dispatched him quickly but the rest of them took up the cry. "Traitor, face your fate! Stop hiding behind the Hunter!"

"It is only a matter of time!" one called from where he hung on the ceiling. "We will crush you like your masters on Ceres!"

Before I knew what was happening, I was up on the ceiling myself with the offender's head in my hands, his body on the floor. This just prompted more taunts. "We will blow you apart!"

"Send you floating through space with the rest of your hominid trash!"

"It doesn't matter how many allies you make. Death to all of you!"

The threats degenerated into snarling and weapons blasts on all sides. I fired at every chitinite body I could find, loosing missiles only when a mob of Others rushed me and threw me against the wall. I felt claws reaching for my eyes, a blast to the shoulder at close range…

"Dr. B, Dr. B!" I struggled to compose myself as I felt Samus's hand grasping my arm. I looked around to see the Others dead at my feet. The air reeked of plasma from her cannon. Most of the dead Others had been shot in the back. "Dr. B, calm down. I warned you about this."

I stared up at her in confusion. "What happened? Parts of my memory are missing."

She exhaled sharply. "You got carried away, Dr. B. They made you upset and you went into a frenzy."

I stared at the carnage around me, the fresh wound in my shoulder. "This is a reaction from my _I_," I said as it finally dawned on me.

"Yeah, and if you don't keep your _I _under control, it'll be the death of you. Trust me on this."

Turning to her, I asked, "How did you do it?"

She sighed. "Lots of practice. Lots of time, too, which is something we don't have right now. Dr. B, if we get into a dicey situation, I want you to leave the fighting to me. Got it?"

I examined my shoulder wound. It was small enough that I could manage without a patch for a while. "Understood."


	14. Chapter 14

We descended further, and the heavily scored and damaged floor began yielding clues to its past purpose. Here and there I found broken pieces of tile, made from semiprecious stone. The walls changed from blasted rock to stone hewn by hand, and to our sides we could see pillars topped with the birdlike heads that always accompanied Chozo architecture.

The temperature grew as we descended, and the dark hallways glowed with a reddish-orange light. We turned a corner and suddenly found ourselves in a great cavern, where molten rock poured from the mouths of the bird-carvings and pooled in deep pits far below. On one side an enormous statue sat, or rather what was left of it; its face and front limbs appeared to have been damaged, quite recently.

I had been paying so much attention to these other things that I lost sight of Samus for a few moments, and jerked to alertness when I heard her cannon fire. I need not have panicked, for it was only a handful of the Others. Yet Samus startled me when she gave one of them a contemptuous kick in the back, watching as the hapless Other fell screaming to the fiery death below. My exoskeleton could protect me against the ambient heat, but chitinite had no defense against liquid stone.

"Are you feeling all right?" I asked her as she stalked off away from the precipice.

"Just cleaning this place up," she said stiffly, then more to herself than to me, "How dare they contaminate it with their presence."

I said nothing, but merely followed. I was still not clear on other species' concepts of the sacred and the profane, but I knew they evoked strong feelings, and from experience I knew it was better to keep out of Samus's way. Just speaking ill of the Chozo put her in a bad mood, so outright defacing their home would have kindled her ire to levels I did not wish to test.

We met few of the Others even though we traveled through many rooms, some decorated with Chozo design, others obviously added later with no embellishment at all. "Perhaps we are not going the right way?" I asked. "The sole living Metroid would be well guarded."

"The marker was there to hide the way in," she replied. "If it is not important, why not just install a normal lock?"

I could not argue with that. "I suppose you are right. But if there are so few of the Others, and this is an important area, that can only mean…."

"…that there is a high-ranking member of the Space Pirates here guarding it. Yeah, I figured that might be the case."

Who would guard this place? Kraid had been killed during Samus's first visit to Zebes, and Ridley had lost his _I_, so I was not sure he could serve in the same capacity. I could not remember any others that would be asked to stand up to a possible invasion by the Hunter, and I had never heard anything about Kraid being mechanized as Ridley was.

Soon our question was answered for us. The Others do not normally make things of art (the gold statues had likely been commissioned, or was the result of forced labor), but before us lay a huge yawning cavern in the crude shape of a dragon's mouth, its meaning clear. Obviously this had been done before the loss of his _I_. Samus charged her cannon and stepped carefully inside.

We entered another huge subterranean space, mostly molten rock but pockmarked with raised boulders here and there. On the far end I could see the passage to the next room, but in front of it lay an enormous silvery shape. If he were alive, I would have said Ridley was asleep. But as he was now just a machine, I would say he was merely turned off.

Samus stepped forward carefully, hoping to avoid triggering whatever mechanism he had to alert him of intruders. I started to follow, but she held out her hand to stop me. "Stay back and let me take care of this, Dr. B. If we're lucky I can shoot him in his weak spot before he realizes we're here."

"I think he is lying on it." I did not understand why the Others had installed Ridley's main power mechanism in his chest. It would be the first place for a hominid to look, as the chest and head are where they kept their own vital organs. It would have been better placed on his back, protected as long as he faced his enemy. "How will you get to it?"

"Maybe I can get him awake just long enough to roll over. Stay here."

I waited, anxious, as she made her way carefully from one rock to another. They were wide, flat rocks, yet I did not like the thought of having to use them to pass over.

Samus crept closer and closer, her weapon raised and ready. She came to a few feet away from him and cautiously stretched out her hand, probably wondering just how she would manage to wake him up.

So many things happened at once, at first they did not register in my mind. As if a switch had been flipped, the great metal dragon lifted its head, raised itself up on its legs and lashed out at Samus with its tail, catching her across the chest. She was head over heels in the lava before I could react, but her Chozo suit saved her. She climbed back onto one of the rocks, cursing, and fired at him.

I hid in the entrance. After being caught off guard the first time, Samus plunged into battle, and seemed to be making progress against the killing-machine. She latched onto its computerized battle patterns quickly, and soon began to meet him at every attack.

A strange feeling began to creep over me, as if I could sense the presence of another in the cavern. Many times I glanced around, yet could see none of the Others. An _I_ was calling to me, from far away it seemed, and its tone was not friendly. At first I thought it might be the infant Metroid, but dismissed that idea right away. Metroids were not sentient. So where was it coming from?

I tried to follow its weak pull, but it kept leading me back to the fight in front of me. I peered closer, trying to find the source. Then, suddenly, in the raspy mechanical roar, I could discern _words_.

"_Curse this…living death…your destruction…will free me…"_

I stood frozen in horror. Some small fragment of Ridley's battered, broken _I_ had come to surface, here in the room where he had first battled Samus. The Others had committed his _I_ to the death of the Hunter, imprisoning what was left of _Ridley _into an enslaved machine. As the sleekly built head turned toward me, I could see a brief flicker of life in the robotic eyes. They focused, centered on me, and words crawled up over the stone with the heat. _Traitor…not deserving…of sentience…"_

"Dr. B, look out!" Samus's shout rang sharply throughout the chamber as she placed herself between me and a blast of plasma. Once again her suit bore the brunt of the attack, and I heard her make an involuntary grunt of pain. Snapping to attention, I let loose a series of missiles onto the half-Ridley, the grating sound of his not-voice hitting my ears as he expressed some primitive reaction to pain.

Suddenly his tail whipped across the gap and struck me so hard that it took me a few moments to crawl back to consciousness. I found myself on the far side of the cavern, my head hanging off the edge of the rock and nearly touching the liquid stone. I scrambled to my feet, a little dizzy from the blow and the heat. I searched frantically for Samus but did not see her. As my eye fell on Ridley I saw him standing in the magma, oblivious to the smell of his own metal body melting, holding something down beneath the surface.

My _I _realized what was going on before the rest of my brain, and I experienced another memory blank as I somehow crossed the floor and dug my claws into his scales, attempting to pry off the shielding that protected his energy core. After a few futile attempts to bite me off, he jerked his front limbs out of the magma and grasped me with white-hot claws that hissed as they burned into my exoskeleton. I let out a cry as Samus burst from the liquid rock and thrust her cannon point-blank onto the energy core. The power of her blast sent him stumbling backward and he dropped me.

"Dr. B, the ceiling!" Samus shouted as she raised her cannon and fired one of her missiles. I understood immediately and did the same. Enormous slabs of stone rained down upon the killing-machine, forcing it down into the magma with only its head, part of its tail, and one wing surfacing. He made a screeching cry that clawed at my _I_, and I watched with stunned silence as Samus casually walked over the boulders and the slowly melting ex-Pirate Captain.

I made to follow, but as I passed by Ridley's head I heard the words again. _"I will haunt you again unless you destroy me utterly,"_ he said both to me and to Samus, though she didn't react. As he turned to me, I could see _life_ in his eyes. _"Kill me, kill me! Or they will simply find another vessel for what is left of me! KILL ME!"_

My _I_ burned. I let loose another set of missiles upon the ceiling. They crashed down upon him, forcing his head into the liquid stone. A keening, a great sound of pain and death and release, burst up from the bubbling magma and battered my _I_.

And then, silence.

I nearly jumped out of my exoskeleton as a hand fell on my shoulder. "Dr. B, are you all right?" Samus demanded, her expression anxious.

"I…he…you didn't hear it?" I asked, watching incredulously as she shook her head.

"You sure you're okay? He really messed you up, do you need some of that…chitinite?" She gestured to the smooth swathes of my exoskeleton where Ridley's melting hands had grasped me.

"I…no. It is merely cosmetic…" I looked up at her. "You did not hear him speak?"

Her eyebrows lowered in puzzlement. "Speak? No…he didn't speak when we were at Ceres, either. I don't think he has that capability anymore." She gestured to me to follow her. "Come on, there's work to be done."

I stood in stupefied silence for a few moments. Had I imagined it? Could he only be heard by another who once did not have an _I _? Or did she just not care?

"Ow," she grunted and involuntarily touched her cannon arm with her hand.

I snapped out of it. "You are injured?"

She gave me a confident smile. "Just a few burns, no big deal. It'll heal up quickly. Another benefit of that Chozo DNA." She turned and the smile disappeared. "Oh no…"

I hurried to her side. "What is it?"

She pointed to the floor. There lay the shattered remains of the specimen tube that had held the infant Metroid. "Where could it be? You don't suppose Ridley ate it, do you?"

I examined the floor around it. "The Others would not break something to get at what they want inside, unless they had to. They could always reuse something like this, you see. No, I think this was hit in a stray blast during the fight. I think the Metroid has been gone for some time."

She cursed. "So we did go the wrong way."

"Not so fast." I had spotted something in a far corner of the little niche. "Look there, the same energy and flammable material wires with shielding that we saw earlier. It goes into the wall here. There must be something important behind this wall, or the Others would not rig it to explode."

She frowned at it. "Well, we'd have to blast in order to get through the wall…will that trigger the wires?"

I shook my head. "That is a special mechanism that must be triggered from a specific source. You could blast the wall without any trouble."

"Will do, then. Stand back, Dr. B." As I moved away, she rolled into a ball and planted a small bomb next to the wall. The resulting blast left a hole just big enough for me to crawl through.

The hole opened into a natural old lava tube, and soon it grew large enough for the two of us to walk. As we continued further, the temperature dropped considerably. We blasted through another wall and found ourselves in a metal hallway of definite Space Pirate make.

Somewhere down the hall, I heard a familiar, eerie screeching sound. Then, unmistakably, I heard the same sound from the other side of the corridor.

"I don't believe it," Samus said grimly as she pressed a few buttons on her arm cannon, switching from a regular blaster to her ice beam. "The Space Pirates have already started cloning them again."


	15. Chapter 15

Samus walked cautiously forward, arm cannon raised, and I walked directly behind with my missile launcher at the ready. I glanced over my shoulder more than a few times, expecting to be approached from behind.

"Whoa!" Samus jumped back, nearly ramming into me, and unleashed her ice beam onto a giant creature just in front of us. The ice solidified, and just before she blew it apart I saw the shape of an enormous Metroid.

"Its…its size is amazing…" I stammered, both fascinated and a little worried.

"Don't let one of those grab you, okay?" she said as if I needed to be told. Her voice shook ever so slightly. "No getting out of that…damn, Dr. B, how did the Pirates grow them so fast? They must have all come from the same original, and there's no Phazon anymore…"

"I remember a few experiments with high-yield size Metroids. They were highly unstable, best only suited as cannon fodder…but still very dangerous."

"Space Pirates have an answer for everything, don't they?" she said to no one in particular. "All right, let's keep moving."

We descended further into the Space Pirate base, and as we did we passed numerous energy-wheel turrets. "Damn doughnuts," Samus muttered as one of them nicked her shoulder. She was using a lot of the frustration-words now, and I could understand why; the energy-sphere turrets often guarded the most precious of the Others' assets…including the Mother Brain.

These Metroids, as dangerous as they were, did not seem to possess much intelligence. They bumped into walls; they crashed into obstacles between them and us, instead of going around them. I figured that cloning so many, so quickly, from just one original would have caused this. Still, I received a fright when one attempted to attack from behind. My missiles had no effect on it at all; Samus had to freeze it for me before I could destroy it.

We dropped into a large cavern, and immediately I sensed something wrong. Samus tensed as well. I smelled an odd scent, like death but cleaner and dusty. It made my _I_ buckle in fear, and I stumbled on the sandy soil where we walked. I did not recognize the soil as being native to Zebes; it seemed to have both a silicon and carbon component, but I could not discern any more than that. It did not appear to come from any of the stone we had passed thus far; and the walls were made of metal. Had the Others brought it in for some reason? And if so, what? There was so much of it, I could not determine how deep it was.

Samus stopped short again, cannon raised. Then she lowered it ever so slightly and crept slowly forward. As I followed I could see what had caused this reaction; one of the Chozo fighter-statues, the ones they call Torizo, stood with its arms raised and beak open as if ready to attack. But it stood still as stone, and when Samus fired upon it, it disintegrated into dust. She turned back to me for an explanation.

"I…" Suddenly I recognized the smell and the dust…all that remained of the Metroids' unlucky meals. My joints locked up in fear, and I struggled to loosen them. "Samus, there must be many Metroids here. This may be a containment facility. The sand…"

"Yes, I know." She paused, tensed, as both of us listened. Neither of us heard the telltale shriek of the Metroid hunting cry, or even the grouchy screeches they made to each other. We crept forward, passing more shells of Zebesian creatures that had likely fed the giant impromptu army. Neither of us mentioned the sheer power that must have been involved in devouring one of the Torizo.

We passed through one containment cell without meeting any living creatures. In the next one, I could see some of the hopping creatures that inhabited Zebes's over world. Both of us breathed a sigh of relief; if there were living creatures here, then surely there were no Metroids?

The hopping creatures did not seem to care about our presence; unusual, as the ones I had encountered were always very territorial. I wondered if they had been specially 'domesticated' for this purpose by the Others. Samus shot at a few, then thought better of it and stepped quickly forward.

Suddenly, a low, rumbling sound reverberated throughout the room. My heart stopped; a Metroid hunting cry, and an enormous one at that. Both of us stepped backward so quickly we nearly tripped over our own feet. The cry echoed throughout the chamber again, and we had both just turned to flee when one of the hopping creatures set its bulk down in front of us.

A gargantuan shape launched itself down on top of the creature. "Holy…!" Samus exclaimed, letting loose a series of words that were neither Federation Standard nor Space Pirate. "Run, Dr. B!" she shouted as she turned on her heel and bolted the other way. I followed suit as the biggest Metroid I had ever seen seized the creature in its mandibles and forced it to the ground.

In no time at all the Metroid finished its meal and came after us. I could feel a deep, unfathomable and unquenchable hunger, greater than anything I had felt from the Metroids in the Phazon chamber at Tallon IV. A gaping maw, a black hole of starvation, flying towards us and zeroing in on the greatest power source in the chamber: Samus.

Samus set her heels in the sand and fired her ice beam at the monster, stepping backwards as she did so. "Run, Dr. B! I'm right behind you!" I turned and ran a few steps, but though I heard her beam make contact I still heard the angry cries of the Metroid. I stopped and turned to see her hit her target again and again, but it had no effect. The Metroid swooped down and I heard a startled human cry.

"Samus!" The creature had her down and in the soil, covering her completely. My _I _felt about to tear in two as I could sense her struggle, her panicked fear, and the all-consuming hunger of the Metroid as it fed greedily on her life's essence. I unloaded a salvo of missiles on the creature and it did nothing.

"Samus! _Samus!" _I was going to lose her. I launched myself at the gigantic mass, digging in with my claws, barely scratching its surface. I pried at the massive mandibles, dug into the fleshy knobs above them with my own, my mind blank with panic as I could feel her weakening beneath me.

Suddenly, I received a flash of consciousness. There was another _I_ in the room, albeit a weak one. Beneath me the gargantuan Metroid heaved itself upward, and my heart leaped as I heard Samus's heavy breathing. She was still alive!

But why?

My _I _drew my gaze above me. There the Metroid hung in the air, still ravenously hungry, but something stopped its instinctual need. I could hear Samus's ragged breathing as I attempted to help her up from the ground. "Dr. B…what…is it…doing?"

Then, both of us stared in amazement as the monster floated slightly back and forth, making a low, burbling sound that I had only heard once. So low I could barely recognize it, but yet the image came unbidden into my head; Samus, in Ceres, the infant Metroid sitting happily on her head.

"Is…" I struggled to verbalize thought. "Is that the original?"

Uncertainty radiated from the creature above us. Its driving hunger struggled with something else, something that tugged at its _I_ when it made the sound, confusion creeping into its voice. Finally, after a few distressed cries, it made its way off into the next room.

I was startled out of my reverie when I felt Samus struggling beside me. "Dr. B…the compartment on my left side…"

I opened a little chamber in her suit and found a chocolate bar. She pulled off her helmet and devoured the bar, then ripped something else out of another compartment. An energy bar, which she sank her teeth into with the same hunger as the Metroid. "Samus, are you all right?"

"Yes…just have to…rest a moment…" She sat down, head between her knees, and said nothing for a few moments. "That…that was a close one…Dr. B, was it the same…the same one? I could sense…something…"

"I know…"

"Dr. B…you said Metroids aren't sentient…"

I sighed. "One of the cornerstones of science is the need to refine our theories." I offered my hand to help her up and she took it. "In any case, it's gone now, and we need to keep going. Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I just needed to rest a moment." She stood and charged her cannon. "Come on, Dr. B. Let's see this through to the end."

We followed the path the Metroid had taken, but found no sign of it. Instead, we saw more of the energy wheels, and I warned her that we were probably getting close to our final destination. She merely nodded and kept going.

Finally we came to a room that looked much like the first one we had visited…except all the security devices were in working order. "Dr. B, I want you to fire on the gates," she ordered, pointing to the energy gates that blocked our way. She aimed her cannon at the energy wheels. "I'll cover you."

I fired upon the gates, which took five or so hits to destroy. We inched our way along, taking care to avoid a sharp-smelling liquid beneath the platforms. I could not be sure what it was, but I knew that it would be bad for either of us to touch it.

As I broke through the last barrier, my _I _felt suddenly enveloped by an all-encompassing consciousness. Following Samus through, I laid eyes for the first time since my sentience upon the nerve center of the Space Pirates; the Mother Brain.

It stood surrounded by a glasslike substance, the same giant tubes radiating from its core. By hominid standards, I suppose it would look grotesque; one giant eye, knobby bits of fleshy skin surrounding the gray matter, scar tissue likely grown from its last encounter with Samus. Samus fired upon it with no ceremony, shattering the clear shield and firing upon the organism within. With each shot, the Mother Brain made a groan of pain that echoed strangely into my mind, giving me phantom pains and reverberating throughout my skull. The cries came from a crude mouth, lined with needle-like teeth.

Finally, Samus shattered every glass pane, blew apart every tube. She advanced cautiously, cannon charged and ready.

And then, it rose.

What we thought was only a head rose up out of a hole in the ground, connected to arms, legs, and a body that looked almost as if it had been stitched together from DNA harvested from Ridley and Kraid. A thick-legged, armored, bipedal dinosaur with the head of the Mother Brain. I aimed my missile launcher.

_**STAY**_.

It was not a word, it was an order. It hit me with blunt force, cementing my feet to the floor. I bowed under its weight, unable to move. Where the dying, tortured Ridley's voice had been a hoarse whisper, this _I_ spoke with thunder. I struggled against it, wielded my own _I, _but it was a battle of an insect against a monster. It took all of my will not to be swallowed into its void, into the womb from which I had been born and where the Others still slept.

If Samus knew this, she ignored it and fired missile after missile upon the Mother Brain. The nightmare creature ignored me after the initial order and fired echo beams at her, dropped bombs at her feet. Samus leaped nimbly into the air without missing a shot. Despite my position, I silently cheered her on.

The monstrous construct closed its one eye, drawing in its neck. I felt myself tingle with a strange energy, energy it appeared to be drawing into itself. Samus fired again and again, anticipating a new attack. Then the Mother Brain opened its eye.

It was the only time I ever heard Samus scream.

A vast wedge of sizzling energy cut through the air, hurling Samus bodily against the wall. Her cries of pain reverberated in my ears and I stumbled blindly toward her. When I looked up again she was kneeling on the floor, breathing hard but able to stand. I heard more frustration-words and realized that her Chozo armor had been nearly drained of its power. Samus charged her weakest weapon and battled doggedly against her foe.

The Mother Brain closed its eye again, as if it were a part of some twisted meditation. I crawled toward Samus, who knew what was coming and fired as quickly as she could. When the beam hit her a second time, she did not scream but I could feel her _I_ trembling under the strain. She fell to the ground again, rose to one knee, and could go no farther. The Mother Brain fired more echo beams, dropped more bombs, but Samus's armor still held. The eye closed again, and I fought my way to Samus's side, placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Dr. B." Her voice was low and gasping, but still clear. "You can…still run…get out…while you can…"

"No," I said firmly, taking her hand in my own. "I will stay here."

She gripped my hand, trembling slightly. I supported her as she raised her head, her eyes drinking in the certainty that she was going to die.

I held my breath, waiting.

And then, the strangest of strange things happened. From the corner of my eye I could see a huge shape fly at the Mother Brain, wrapping itself around its head. I realized what it was even before I realized that we were still alive.

The infant Metroid.

Or, rather, the creature that had once been the infant Metroid. It bit hungrily into the Mother Brain, with an anger that could only come from a sentient creature. This was no mere feeding, but an attack…and, strangely enough, an act of protection.

It made little growls of vitriol as it gnawed into the Mother Brain, forcing it to the ground. The makeshift creature paled, grew still. Then the Metroid rose again, making soothing burbling sounds as it hovered over us. It nudged me gently with one of its mandibles, as big as I was, and strangely I understood. I stepped aside and it covered Samus. I could hear her breathing ease as I sensed that the Metroid was _feeding its own energy _into her!

The Others had been attempting to get the Metroids to do this on command for ages, but had never succeeded. Even I had never seen such a thing. Until now such a process had only been theory.

I jerked to the side as I noticed movement to my left. Not yet beaten, the Mother Brain rose again and began firing upon the Metroid itself. I expected it to fight back, but the Metroid only huddled more tightly over Samus. I heard little squeals of pain but it still stood there, not budging. It was not until it had been battered several times over that it finally rose and attempted another attack.

With one swipe of the Mother Brain's hand, the Metroid ruptured apart, its cytoplasm splattering against both me and Samus.

Suddenly I felt myself blasted with fire, the burning rage of a powerful _I_. It washed over me in waves as Samus rose to her feet and fired her weapon. The same wedge like beam I had seen before erupted from her cannon back at the Mother Brain, which cried out as it struck. The heat of Samus's ire during her battle with Ridley on Tallon IV was nothing compared to this. It cut through the air as she unloaded blast after blast onto the Mother Brain.

Finally, the enormous creature fell to the floor. Samus blasted its corpse a few more times and exploded a few bombs for good measure. What was left of the Mother Brain collapsed into dust.

I limped over to her as she stood, breathing hard but standing solid. She opened her mouth to say something, and then the alarm shrieked through the air.

"Samus!" I shouted over the din. "It's a self-destruct alarm…you saw the wires, the entire planet is set up to explode!"

"Come on, Dr. B!" Despite her battered appearance she seemed stronger than ever. I had to struggle to keep up as she blasted her way through the remaining Others, who shrieked in panic as we cut through them. Pipes burst and walls cracked. Floors ruptured and ceilings buckled. The rumbling of a planet-wide earthquake did not stop even as we left the Pirate-infested areas and reached the surface.

She leaped into her ship and I followed suit. She quickly shifted it into gear and we began to rise above the ground. Even as we rose, I could see great cracks rend the earth, magma shoot from volcanic mountains, rivers turn into steam. We passed through the cloud barrier, then reached orbit, then broke from it into space. Just as we did, the loudest sound I had ever heard exploded behind us and the shock waves sent the ship spinning.

"Hold on!" Samus kept a tight grip on the controls, pushing the ship out of its spin. As the ship righted itself, she shifted into a cruising speed and we both looked back. Where Zebes had once been, there was now only rocky debris floating through space.

Samus took off her helmet, her expression unreadable. Then she buried her face into her hands. "Oh Dr. B…it's gone…all of it…"

I understood. Her adopted homeland, the Chozo shrine, the sentient Metroid. All gone, just like Ceres.

I was not sure I was doing it correctly, but I attempted the "hug". She did not seem to mind. It was all I could think of.


	16. Chapter 16

Samus spoke little as she piloted the ship through deep space. "I want to stop on Tallon IV for a short while," she said, I heard nothing more from her until we had landed and stood outside the ship, in the ruins of the Chozo that had once lived there.

"Dr. B, if you don't mind, I would like to be alone for a while. Will you be all right?" she asked. I could see dark circles under her eyes.

"Of course. When you are finished with…er, when you are finished, I will meet you back at the ship." She nodded, so I turned and left her there.

After I had passed through a few rooms, I found myself in the lush tropical area near the old shrine, where we had first encountered Metroid Prime. With the Phazon gone, the planet appeared to be recovering. Brightly colored flowers waved softly in the breeze, anchored securely on vines that carpeted the walls of the ruins. A enormous arachnid with a body the size of my head ambled on by without a second look, the creatures of this world no longer driven mad by the sickness that had permeated it for so long.

There was not much left of the shrine; really, just a hallway that abruptly opened out into nothing. I stood at the edge and gazed down into the yawning chasm. The Phazon was gone, Metroid Prime was gone, and whatever was left of the true Ridley was probably gone as well. It was almost unrecognizable. I half fancied going back to the lab where I had first met Samus. I wondered if the planet was already taking itself back, transforming the Others' stronghold into mere ruins. The huge crater that had been the source of it all was already filling with water from the rain.

It set me to thinking, about how even the gravest wounds can be healed with time. I examined my cybernetic arm, my replacement for the original that probably still lay at the bottom of the crater. Siskin, at least, had survived Ridley's purge of Ceres. Nothing could be destroyed utterly. Zebes had been shattered apart, but the remains of the extinct Chozo race still existed elsewhere.

I walked back to the ship and waited impatiently to share my new revelation with Samus. She did not return for several hours, and when she finally appeared, she walked with head held high, the lines of worry erased from her face. Perhaps she'd had the same revelation. "Ready to go, Dr.B?"

I nodded. "Ready as always."

We climbed back into the ship. As we broke through the atmosphere, I turned back to see the crater quite visible, a large but harmless scar on the otherwise healthy planet's surface. That image stayed with me for a long time.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"Well, I have to stop at a Federation station to pick up my bounty," she said slowly, as if trying to think ahead herself. "I'll need a good share of it to do some maintenance on my ship. It's not every day I get caught in the shockwaves of a planetary explosion. That will take a while…the right parts are hard to get, and I have to modify them. Then, I guess we just wait until the next bounty…" she trailed off.

"I will help, if I can. But I don't know much about mechanics, and I don't know anything about your ship."

She turned to me. "Dr. B…would you mind…" Samus looked uncomfortable. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but…would you mind if I was alone for a while? I'm not used to having someone around all the time…and you'll probably just be bored…"

I thought for a while. "I wouldn't mind working in another lab, but I don't know how to arrange that. Dr. Reyman came forward for me, the last time. Besides," I added with a touch of embarrassment, "I have to admit I am not a very good fighter."

"You are an excellent fighter, considering that you started out as a scientist," Samus assured me. "You were very helpful on the last mission, but we might want to look for something else for you to do in the meantime."

As we docked at a Federation station, Samus warned me to stay inside. "I don't know what your status is yet - you could be considered a refugee from Ceres, but I figure the Federation's still mad about your bringing down Dr. Ita. Stay here until I get an idea of what their attitude is like, OK? I don't want to have to pull you out of imprisonment again."

I nodded. I figured their ban on my visiting their facilities still held. We were correct in our assumption; when she returned, she said I could come on board, but she had to escort me at all times. I had no issue with this, though I had to make a mental note not to go wandering off if I saw something that interested me. I left my missile launcher and arm blaster in her ship.

We stopped at the canteen before anywhere else. I felt like the entire station was staring at us. I had to admit that the people here probably were not used to seeing a tame 'Space Pirate' and Samus Aran in full body armor (minus the helmet). I didn't care once I got a few cheeseburgers and a table at which to eat them.

The other people stared at our plates as much as they did at us. In addition to my pile of cheeseburgers, Samus had a whole sirloin steak, half a watermelon, an entire bowl of white bread rolls, a stalk of celery, and a slab of cheese for spreading on her bread. I imagine that Chozo battle armor required Chozo metabolism to wield. She also had a bottle of 'soda', something I avoided. The little bubbles gave me indigestion. Instead I drank heated chocolate mixed with milk.

I had started on my third cheeseburger when I heard a voice behind me. "Dr. B?"

I turned to see an older female hominid, with graying hair and those eye-pieces called 'glasses'. She looked familiar. "I remember you," I said. "You are the hominid who came to visit Dr. Reyman. His friend from the Academy. But I have forgotten your name."

She laughed. "I'm surprised you remember me at all! My name is Melinda Almar."

I stood, remembering that I was supposed to initiate one of the hominid rituals. "Dr. Almar, this is my friend, Samus Aran." Samus stood as I gestured toward her and offered her hand, which Dr. Almar took, looking nearly as nervous as she did when she first met me. The two of them agreed that they were happy to meet, and then we sat down again.

I wasn't sure what to do next, so I offered her some of my food. "Would you like a cheeseburger, Dr. Almar?"

She shook her head. "Actually, I came to talk to you, but I'll let you finish eating first. I'm staying in the Third Wing, number 54. Come by later and we can talk some more." I agreed and she said good-bye.

"Well, that was unusual," Samus said. "She just wants to talk, huh? You want me to come with you?"

"Of course; I must have an escort. But I do not sense any malicious intent. from her." I said nothing more about the matter while we ate. The meeting had brought up unbidden memories about Dr. Reyman. I wondered if she felt bad because of his death, too. As his 'friend', I figured that she probably did. Did she want to talk to me about him?

I touched the panel next to the door, activating a little chime inside the room. "I'll be right there," a voice called out, and Dr. Almar opened the door. "Come in, Dr. B, and Ms. Aran too."

She offered us soft furniture for sitting, but I found it uncomfortable and Samus probably would have crushed it. So we both assured her that we could stand. "What did you want to speak to me about?" I asked. "Dr. Reyman?"

A brief frown passed over her face when I mentioned his name. "Not exactly, Dr. B, though I suppose it is somewhat related to his death. Have you found employment since the…incident…on Ceres?"

I shook my head. "Immediately afterward, I asked Samus if I could assist her in the pursuit of the Others. We just returned from Zebes."

"The Others?"

"Other Space Pirates. They are responsible for the deaths of my friends on Ceres. So I have joined Samus in\hunting them."

"Oh." She looked disappointed. "Well, if you're already set…but I guess I'll mention it anyway. I was wondering if you were willing to take a position under me at Biologic Space Laboratories."

Suddenly interested, I asked, "You would give me a job as a scientist?"

"Yes. I already arranged things with the Federation. You'd have to stay on the lab station, unless you decide to go…er, 'hunting' with Samus."

I nodded emphatically. "Yes, I would like that very much!"

"Well, it's settled then." Samus turned to Dr. Almar. "When can he start?"

She smiled. "Immediately, if he would like to."

"Give me your lab station's coordinates and I'll bring him there."

Biologic Space Laboratories was much bigger than Ceres. It consisted of several labs large enough to house different species in an appropriate environment. All of them connected to the main living and working area. Surprisingly, it was anchored in orbit around SR388.

"Luckily, we escaped any of the debris ejected from Zebes after it exploded," said Dr. Almar as we docked at the station. "It's too bad that it had to be destroyed. We were hoping the Space Pirates would leave eventually. They never seem to stay in one place for long. In any case, we have a large variety of specimens from the neighboring planets."

Samus said nothing as we entered the station. I hoped Dr. Almar wouldn't mention Zebes again.

"Did you have Metroid specimens?" I asked. It seemed natural if the station was so close to the Metroids' original home.

"At one point, yes," she said with a frown. "They proved too much for us to handle. We had to destroy them all. It's a shame, they were such fascinating creatures…but they would have eaten everyone and everything aboard." She turned and smiled at me. "I heard that you did a lot of research on Metroids. I don't have anything nearly as interesting, but you might like it anyway."

As we walked through the halls, people greeted Dr. Almar, giving Samus and I only a brief nod. Apparently they had been warned of my presence, but it seemed that this place would not be as welcoming or friendly as Ceres. I saw mostly humans, with only the occasional Dilphii, and no Amadeans at all.

She opened the door to a small lab within the living area. Unlike the rest of the dour-looking station, this one was painted in bright colors. Behind a shatterproof glass wall, I could see small creatures dart back and forth among the fake trees, and a series of objects hung from the ceiling for them to perch on. Some of them were small blue simians, and some were large flightless birds.

"Etecoons and Dachoras," Samus said to nobody in particular.

"Zebes was their homeworld," Dr. Almar explained. "Hopefully, by keeping them here, we can save them from extinction. But that's not why I asked you to come. Dr. B, Dr. Reyman told me that you were interested in studying 'sentience'. Is this correct?"

I nodded. "My research on the nature of the _I _is what led me to leave the Others."

"We've determined that these creatures are quite intelligent," Dr. Almar stated. "We want to know if they are sentient. Sentience is different from intelligence…as I'm sure you know."

"Yes, of course. The Others have many highly intelligent units among them, but only a handful in the upper ranks are actually sentient."

She smiled. "Excellent. Well, does this interest you, Dr. B? Would you like to stay?"

"Of course!"

Samus put her hand on my shoulder. "Well, if you're all set, I'm going to get my ship back into good working order."

"Just a moment, Ms. Aran." Dr. Almar handed Samus her hand-computer. "I was wondering if you would be willing to take on a mission for us. We want to collect some specimens on SR388, and it's a dangerous place even without the Metroids. We can't offer as much payment as a military organization…but I think it would be relatively easy work, for you at least. You know the planet well, after all."

She scrolled through the information on the hand-computer. "I don't see why not," she said in a neutral voice. "I'll consider it and let you know in a few days. My ship has been waiting to be tuned up for quite a while now."

"Of course. We're in no hurry."

"See you later, Dr. B." Samus gave me a small wave as she left. Dr. Almar turned to me. "Well, I suppose you'd like to get settled in. I'll show you to your quarters, and you can start work tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17

The BSL Station was very different from Ceres.

When Dr. Almar brought me to my quarters, I could not conceal my surprise. She opened the door to a small space about the size of a storage closet, the type hominids use to keep their clothing. It was just about big enough for a bed and not much else, which led me to believe that at one point it may very well have been a closet.

"I'm sorry, but this is the best we can do for now," said Dr. Almar. "Most people who work here only do so for a short period of time…only a few of us, like myself, have been living here for several years. Some even share a bathroom, but I was told that you didn't need one."

"I have no issue with the room," I assured her. "In fact, I do not even need the bed. The only thing I used at Ceres was the food replicator, and once I know where the eating place is, I really don't need that either."

Dr. Almar let out a huge sigh of relief, though for some reason she still looked nervous. "Well, that's easy enough. You go down the main corridor, left on Hall B, then right on Corridor L. Turn another right and you should be there. I'll be in the specimen room, setting it up for you, if you need me."

"Thank you. Would you care to join me at the eating place?" I had noticed that hominids seemed to prefer doing these things in groups.

"I have a lot to finish, but I might be able to get down there later. In any case, I'll see you tomorrow."

I bid her good-bye and placed my arm blaster in the room. I had to leave my missile launcher with Samus again, but I didn't want to make my new colleagues nervous. As I walked down the main corridor, I nodded in greeting at the hominids that walked by, but they didn't nod back. I figured they must have some other greeting.

Corridor L passed by the loading dock. I took a brief look at the dock, where an Amadean pushed a large crate toward me. It must have been heavy, for the Amadean's muscles bulged with the effort and he moved very slowly. The crate appeared to be made of platinite, a strong alloy the Others would use to transport specimens only slightly less dangerous than Metroids.

Interested, I approached him. "Excuse me, but might I ask what you have in there?"

`He gave me a startled look, then demanded, "You talking to me?"

I glanced around. "I don't see anyone else here."

"Bola!" a hominid barked from a nearby ship. "Quit dawdling and deliver the damn thing!"

The Amadean motioned for me to follow him. "Wait just a sec."

I waited patiently until we had gone down the corridor and then turned down another. Bola flipped the brake on the huge cart where the crate lay, then turned to me with hands on hips and a grin full of teeth. "You must be Aran's Space Pirate. Polite one, aren't ya? Name's Bola, as you've probably guessed." He held out his hand.

I took it. "I am Dr. B. I am not owned by Samus, but I am her friend."

"Ah! Sorry if I offended you. You'd think I'd know better," he said with a laugh.

I stood there looking confused. "You would?"

He gave me a calculating look. "You came from Ceres, right? Well, let me tell you something," he said as he bent down closer, lowering his voice. "Over there, I heard Amadeans actually get good jobs. Most places run by hominids, they only let us do grunt work."

"There were Amadean scientists at Ceres," I informed him.

"Really? It's a shame it blew up, then. All I can do is haul this stuff around." He indicated the crate with a jerk of his head. "Ah well, whatever pays the bills I guess. If I was working on Ceres, I'd be dead."

I really did not want to discuss Ceres further, so I said, "Would you like to join me for food? I was just on my way to the eating place."

He stared at me. "Boy, you are a naïve one, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

Bola released the brake and pushed the cart forward. "You'll find out soon enough. Listen, it was nice meeting ya, Dr. B, but I've got work to do."

Mystified, I bid him good-bye and left in search of food. When I finally got to the 'cafeteria', I noted right away a big difference between it and the one at Ceres. There was no line for Amadean food at all.

Of course, there were so few Amadeans, I figured that the ones who stayed for any period of time must have quarters with replicators. The BSL might not have been able to find a chef who could prepare Amadean food. I got into the line and took my time deciding what to eat. The people in back of me did not seem to mind. They waited patiently for me a few feet back. It wasn't until I got near the end that I realized that no one behind me had taken any of the items I had chosen.

It was standard eating time before sleeping time, usually called 'dinner' by the hominids, and the 'cafeteria' was quite full. I found a table with an empty seat. "Greetings," I said as I approached it. "I am Dr. B. Do you mind if I sit here?"

They stared at a moment, then stood as one. "Go ahead, we were just leaving," said a male hominid, and they took their food items and left. They disposed of several food items they had not yet eaten. I sat down and started on one of my cheeseburgers. By the time I finished eating, the cafeteria was still full, but no one else had come to join me at the table.

Just as I was about to leave, Dr. Almar walked in. "Oh, Dr. B, I'm so sorry," she said as I stood to greet her.

"There is no need to apologize. You stated earlier that you would take some time getting to the eating place."

"No, that's not what I mean." She cast a few glances around, most of the room watching us by now. "Please, come with me."

She did not speak another word until we stood alone in a side corridor. "Dr. B, I suppose you should know…I had a lot of opposition to bringing you on board."

I considered this. "Because I was a Space Pirate?"

"Partly, yes."

"But if I was cleared to work here, surely the Federation must know I am not a threat."

She sighed, and played with a thin gold ornament she wore around one finger. It had a small diamond on the top, and I recognized it as the ornament some hominids use to show they have found their mate. "It's very hard to get humans to move past instinct, sentient or not. But it's more complicated than that. A lot of people on the BSL are suspicious of Ms. Aran."

This surprised me. "Samus? But she has done nothing but good for the Federation."

"I know that, as do many of the people on the BSL. But the fact remains that she's a bounty hunter - she's not completely loyal to the Federation. She spends a lot of time with other species that are either hostile or neutral to the Federation, so there are some here who argue that she can't be trusted."

"I suppose I understand the reasoning. I find it hard to believe, though."

"I'm sorry, Dr. B." She looked down at the floor, and I realized that unlike most hominids, she did not look me in the face when she spoke. I wondered what it meant. "I can have someone bring you food, if you like. So you don't have to eat in the cafeteria by yourself."

"I will consider it." I turned my attention to the ornament on her hand. "I see you have a 'marriage ring'. Who is the other?"

She looked away. "My late husband, Richard."

"Ah! I apologize." Hominids had volatile emotions regarding the dead, and I did not want to make her any more distressed.

"There's no need to apologize. You didn't know." She motioned for me to follow her. "Come, it's time you started work."

* * *

Unnerved by the strange events surrounding the eating place, I busied myself with my new job. I eagerly gathered a few tools, though all I really needed was my hand-computer from Ceres, for taking notes. As I searched through my few chitinite compartments for anything else I might have brought, I found the small tube containing the cell sample of the infant Metroid.

I wondered what to do with it. If I shared my possession with anyone on Ceres, they would likely attempt to destroy it. I still held fast to my opinion that killing off an entire species, not matter how volatile, would cause serious problems. In the end, I put it right back in its compartment. Metroid cells are nearly indestructible; I did not need to freeze it to preserve it.

I spent the first few days reading over the notes of the previous researcher. On the hominids' homeworld, Earth, sentience experiments had been performed on somewhat similar creatures called "chimpanzees" and "parrots". They mostly involved playing games and attempting some sort of communication. I could not do the complex hand-signals used to communicate with "chimpanzees", and the dachoras did not seem to react to the voice signals used for "parrots". In the end, I decided to search for the_ I_ the same way as I had done with the others.

I stepped into the enclosure. The creatures immediately scampered to the other side and hid in the artificial foliage. The enclosure was surrounded by synthetic stone on two walls, and a glasslike substance made up the other two walls. Light came from embedded ceiling lamps that brightened and dimmed to mimic the day cycles of Zebes. Large artificial plants had been installed, with smaller natural plants from other planets around them.

For the first day or so, I just sat. Oh, occasionally I moved around or scratched my head, just to demonstrate that I was a living creature. I wanted the etecoons and dachoras to become used to me. Obviously they were familiar with Space Pirates, for they stayed away.

Midway through the second day, one of the etecoons sneaked its way through the trees and hurled a small projectile at my head, chattering loudly. It bounced off with no harm done and I picked it up. It appeared to be a metal part of some kind, possibly wrenched from part of the enclosure or stolen from one of the researchers. As the etecoon ran off, I noticed that it had chosen to throw the metal part at me instead of the numerous nuts in the trees and on the ground. So there was a sign of intelligence, at least.

Over the next few days, gangs of etecoons would come within a few yards and just stare. I stared back. I could not sense anything, and it disappointed me. Dr. Almar would come a couple times a day with food for me, but she was the only other _I_ that I could interact with. Once I brought in some food to see if they would attempt to steal it, but all I got was more stares.

Then, one day, all the etecoons huddled together in a tight little knot, chattering in low voices. The dachoras, which had been out of sight the entire time, hovered around the edges of the crowd. One of the dachoras walked slowly toward me, then stopped a few feet away.

All of a sudden I heard a rush of chatter, accompanied by the unmistakable feeling of being in the presence of another _I. _Much more than just one _I._ I didn't expect an answer, but I found myself asking, "How did you hide it before?"

_You are the Hatchling's companion. _A voice spoke in my head, much the way Ridley's had in between bestial roars.

The Hatchling? That was one of the Chozo names for Samus, I remembered. From the writing on the wall, which she translated for me soon after we first met. It seemed like an age ago. "You are not Chozo. Why do you call her that?"

_We have no name of our own for her. We merely use the one the Guardians gave her._

"But the Chozo have been extinct for years. How do you know this?"

_We live long, and Zebes was their last home._

The more logical part of my mind writhed in agony, knowing there was no way I could record this speaking-in-thought for my research. It distracted me, trying to find some way to prove to the other researchers that I truly heard the dachora speak to me. "If you can speak, why only to me?"

_We have tried. You are the only one who can hear us. Our consciousness speaks directly to yours._

My mind raced. Did this mean…that I could hear the words of another _I_? Regardless of the kind of speech they used? My thoughts ran back to the dying Ridley again, how Samus had seemingly ignored his cries. Was I the only one who could hear them?

I remembered feeling the all-encompassing hunger of the last Metroid, its stubborn determination to protect Samus from the Mother Brain. And I remembered the force of the Mother Brain's _I_, how it threatened to eclipse my own completely.

_We hid our thoughts from you_, the dachora said, _because we could sense you could hear our words. We were not sure at first if you were the same one._

"You can hide your _I?"_

_In a manner of speaking. It is not wise to show others how much you know._ The dachora came closer, the other creatures following behind. _Beware, companion of the Hatchling. This place holds dark secrets that even we cannot divine._


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, the creatures stayed away from me. When I called to them, the dachora that had spoken to me before approached slowly. _Be careful_, it said to me. _If the humans see us converse, they will know we are sentient._

This confused me. "I'm sorry, but my mission here was to prove your sentience. Why would you want them to believe you are not sentient?"

_This is a dangerous place. There are parts of this station which can only be accessed by a few people._

"All stations are like that. You don't know because you have never been…"

_The human who brought you here…the one called Dr. Almar. She lost her mate soon after he ventured into the Restricted Area._

I froze, and felt a strange feeling that up until now I had only experienced when Samus was in some kind of trouble. It was almost like a slight vertigo, though I never felt as if I would fall over. "Her mate? But…that could be for any reason. He could have been imprisoned, or eaten by something kept for study. It does not necessarily mean that the other hominids…"

_We hear their talk. They speak freely in front of us, not knowing we understand them. We do not comprehend everything they say, but it is usually enough. Her mate was killed by other humans, because of something he found there._ The dachora blinked its large red eyes as I stood motionless, unable at first to process this information. _Now do you understand why we keep our sentience secret?_

"I do…but if I have no scientific findings to present, I will have to leave here."

_That is just as well. This is no place for a creature of conscience. We would leave ourselves, but now we have nowhere to go. _It turned and walked back into the dense foliage of the enclosure.

* * *

I returned to my quarters after eating time, frustrated. Part of me wanted to search for this Restricted Area myself. After all, I had helped Samus defeat the Mother Brain - how much more difficult could it be? The other half of me knew this was a foolish venture. Even if I did not get hurt, they would probably punish Dr. Almar for bringing me to the station. In the end I decided to wait until Samus returned, and ask her opinion. She had already been sent to SR388 for her next mission, but she had to return to the BSL afterward, so I decided to make sure I spoke to her then.

Three days later, I pretended to make observations in the enclosure, entering false data into my hand-computer. Dr. Almar's voice came over the intercom, sounding more strained than usual. "Dr. B, please come to the medic wing immediately."

To be honest, I really had no idea what they wanted. I certainly never expected to walk into the BSL medic wing just as I had in Ceres - to find Samus in one of the gurneys!

"What happened?" I demanded. She looked even worse than before. Some sort of gummy substance leaked from her suit, orangish in color and quite thick. A bio-shield stood between me and the gurney, and I noticed that a high-level alert had been placed all around it. Whatever that substance was, it was extremely dangerous.

No one spoke, but instead they looked at Dr. Almar. "Samus has been infected by some kind of parasite," she said to me in a soft, wary tone. "We have very little data on it…what we do know comes from archives donated to the Federation from the Chozo. They have no name for it…they simply called it X. This parasite will eventually take over its host, assuming its form in the process."

"There must be something we can do!" I insisted. "If the Chozo researched such a dangerous thing, they must have figured out how to kill it!"

Dr. Almar's eyes flicked briefly to the silent crowd next to her, and for the first time I noticed it included soldiers as well as doctors. "I'm sorry, Dr. B. Its one natural predator is extinct."

"Surely there must be something close! Or poison, or any substance that will inhibit its life processes!" I felt the alien panic again, just like I had in the room with the gigantic Metroid. Samus's life was in danger, and they were doing nothing!

"I'm…I'm sorry, Dr. B…"

"You cannot let Samus die! She is important to…to the Federation!" Somehow I doubted my friendship would be valued among this dour crowd, which stared disdainfully at me as if I were any other Space Pirate. "She has destroyed the Others' bases on Tallon IV and Zebes. She eliminated the Phazon threat. Where would you be now if she had not? Do you think the Others would have let you keep a base here?"

One of the soldiers stepped forward; I could tell from the large number of metal objects on his clothing that he was of high rank. "Dr. B, we would very much like to treat Samus. That's not the issue. The problem is that the one thing that we could use to combat the X is no longer in existence."

"Well, what is it?" I demanded. "Perhaps its presence is only unknown to the Federation. Perhaps it can be found in a place the Federation has not looked yet, especially if it is connected to the Chozo."

"Metroids, Dr. B," said Dr. Almar almost in a whisper. "They were the predators of the X on SR388."

The young male scientist next to her sighed in impatience. "Yes, but there are no more-"

"There are!" I snatched the cell sample from its compartment and held it up for everyone to see.

The soldiers raised their weapons as one, all of them lethal and all of them aimed at my head. "Where did you get that?" demanded the young scientist. He glared at Dr. Almar, as if she had something to do with it.

"It is from Ceres!" I announced, blissfully ignoring the weapons as I revealed my hypothesis that had been correct all along. "I took it from the infant Metroid in Samus's possession, the one she retrieved from SR388. Now you see! This is why you must not eliminate an entire species!"

The high-ranking hominid pointed at the vial. "That's illegal. All Metroids were to have been destroyed on Federation orders."

"Are you devoid of intelligence?" I demanded, not caring that the faces of the entire crowd turned an angry red. He had completely ignored my statement and my immediate conclusion was that he must be supremely dense. I began to yell, even though logically that would not have made any difference. I could not push the words through their ears to their brains. "There was no threat from the X the last time Samus went there, because the Metroids still existed! Now that the Metroids are gone, there is nothing to combat the threat of the X! Samus cannot be bested by Metroids. If the X did that to her, then you have unleashed an unprecedented threat to the galaxy!"

They wavered, the soldiers lowering their weapons slightly and looking to their commander for direction. The scientists argued amongst themselves, except for Dr. Almar, who merely watched the young scientist who had spoken before.

I felt myself about to burst with frustration. What would they even need to discuss? I had made everything perfectly obvious. I pointed to Samus's motionless body. "You say this X can take on the appearance of its host. Samus's armor is assimilated into her body. If you let her die, then you will have a hostile alien form walking around with the Hunter's weapons!"

That got their attention. "B-but, we won't have time to grow a Metroid clone from this sample," said the young scientist.

"We could use-"

"Dr. Almar!" As soon as she spoke, he snapped at her, raising her hand as if to strike her. I grabbed his arm and twisted it, quite gently, but he still cried out. As the soldiers raised their weapons again, I demanded, "Show me the Chozo data! I am a Metroid expert. I will create a serum from this sample that will eliminate the X from Samus's body!"

They wavered, but finally the high-ranked soldier motioned for them to lower their weapons. "Get Dr. B whatever he needs," he ordered, then turned to me with a frown. "You've got forty-eight hours, understand? That was the prognosis Dr. Almar gave to me. After that, she'll have to be destroyed. We can't have a zombie Samus Aran walking around this station."

I didn't know what species a 'zombie' was, but it was irrelevant. I took the hand-computer Dr. Almar handed me, which contained the translated Chozo notes on the X. I poured over them, trying to determine what allowed the Metroids to consume a creature no other could combat. What prevented the X from infecting the Metroids like everything else?

Finally, I found it. Metroids produced a toxin that killed the X instantly, but was harmless to all other known life forms. Metroid cytoplasm was essentially poison to these creatures. I had the raw material I needed in the infant Metroid's sample tube, but it would take some time to convert it to a form that would metabolize throughout Samus's body. I gave directions to the small group of scientists, taking a small sample from the tube for testing.

I won't go into everything that happened, since most of it involved mixing numerous catalysts and testing on human cells. I took the experimental sample I had just approved and injected it carefully, watching the screen above Samus's head that displayed the parasite multiplying throughout her body. It took just a few moments for the serum to reach a cluster of the X, and when it did, the majority of them shriveled and died almost immediately.

The rest of the scientists let out a shout of triumph, but I was troubled. If my calculations were correct, it would take the entire sample to make enough serum to cure Samus. That meant no more Metroids, and no way to get any more serum, let alone the fact that now the Metroids really would be extinct.

"Dr. B, what are you waiting for?" D. Almar asked, her eyes wide with anticipation and stress. I could only hope that the serum would provide Samus with immunity against the X. Then she would need to be sent out to destroy that species as well. I could think of numerous Space Pirate words to describe the fallacy of the Federation and its Metroid-elimination policy, but that would have to wait. There was no other choice.

I gave Dr. Almar the sample tube and instructed her to use all of it, to create one dose of serum. Once I had the finished product in a syringe, I injected it into Samus's body, and we all watched in tense silence as it attacked the X.

"Excuse me, sir," said one of the technicians. He pointed to one of the monitors that displayed the X inside the casing of Samus's suit. "The others look fine, but the X don't seem to be affected here."

I heard Dr. Almar gasp behind me. "Tuck," I said, automatically using one of Samus's frustration-words. I must have mispronounced it, for they all stared at me in puzzlement. "We must remove Samus's armor, but I don't know if she can live without it."

"It has to be done," snapped the young scientist. My dislike for him rose further. "We can't lose this opportunity to isolate the X. If she dies, so be it!"

As I turned to face him, the high-ranking soldier raised his hand. "The Federation has a procedure in place for an event like this," he declared. I had no idea what he meant. He tapped a few buttons on his hand-computer and began speaking, presumably to his commanding officer. "Sir, requesting one-eight-seven to the BSL station, immediately." He turned back to us with the explanation: "The Federation has created some back-up parts in the event of a medical emergency. They should arrive within a few hours."

I was not sure at first what he meant. "The…the Federation has Chozo armor? That must be untrue."

He shook his head. "It's not up to the level of what she has now, but the Federation created some hardware that can be used in emergencies. They were created the last time she came in for treatment…we knew that we couldn't use the same prosthetics and so on if she had a serious injury, so we decided to create ones that would fit her."

"That is good to know." I was not sure what to think of this information. Surely Samus was an asset to the Federation, but would they really create a Chozo armor substitute just for the sake of this particular scenario?

"We need to get her prepped for surgery," said Dr. Almar. "Dr. B, I know you will want to stay, but we will need human surgeons on hand. You can stay outside the operating room…"

"No, that's all right," I said quickly, realizing how tense I had become. Samus appeared to be mostly out of danger at this point, and I could feel myself relax ever so slightly with that thought. "I will eat, and get a couple hours of sleep. Then I will return."

She bid me good-bye and began putting on protective garments, so that she could take down the bio-shield and move Samus to the operating room without risk of contracting the X. I left the medic wing and started walking toward the eating place, but felt a wave of exhaustion come over me and turned toward my quarters instead.

I fell asleep as soon as I walked in, too tired to reflect upon what I had just accomplished, too exhausted to contemplate what might come next.


	19. Chapter 19

A sharp knock at my door awakened me. I stepped over and opened it, and would not have recognized the person standing in front of me if she had not taken off her helmet. "Samus! You are alive! How are you feeling?"

"I'm just fine, Dr. B, thanks to you." She spoke quietly, so I assumed she must be tired.

"Do you need sleep? You can use my bed," I offered.

"No thanks, I've had enough lying around for a while." She frowned as she glanced around my quarters. "Is this all they gave you? It looks like they just stuck a bed in a closet."

"I do not require much. Besides, I am sure the other scientists' quarters are just as small."

She said nothing, but gave me an odd look. I seized upon the silence to ask her about her new outfit. "What is it made of?" The suit appeared to be a type of thick, stretchy material, not at all like her original. Her body was not as sharply outlined as in her blue suit, but the suit was still much less dense than the original, making her look smaller.

"I'm not really sure," she said, glancing down at her forearm. "It'll withstand most atmospheres and it's compatible with standard Federation weapons; that's all that concerns me right now."

I looked at the floor. "I am sorry. I was not able to find a way to get rid of the X in your suit. If you give me more time I can…"

She waved her hand impatiently. "Don't worry about that right now, Dr. B. I'm not going on another mission for a while. I'm still a little weak, and I don't want to attempt my usual bounty wearing this thing, anyway. Besides, right now I have to go to Federation HQ to make a report on the X. I asked if you could come, but…"

"I am still banned, correct?" I asked, and she nodded, a brief light of anger in her eyes. "It is all right," I assured her. "I will stay here and attempt to remove the X from your suit. Perhaps it will be ready once you return."

She nodded. "In the meantime, I'll have to get another ship as well. Mine crashed when I was infected with the X, and the one the Federation loaned me…" She rolled her eyes. "It's got an AI in it, and a particularly annoying one, too. It acts more like a commanding officer than a helpful pilot. It rebuked me when I ate some food I bought in the cafeteria, instead of the sludge the medics gave me to build up my strength."

I felt the urge to laugh; the Hunter being scolded by a machine seemed particularly funny to me. Samus being the type of person to shoot almost anything that irritated her. "Then I will make sure I repair your suit as quickly as possible."

She grinned. "Thanks, Dr. B. I'll see you soon."

* * *

"Here's the last crate," said Bola the Amadean as he wheeled it into the lab. It was called Test Room Orange, the different labs color-coded in terms of security. Orange was the highest one on the list, but it was not termed the 'Restricted Area'. I wondered what could be more restricted than a parasite as dangerous as the X.

"Thank you," I said as he set it on the floor. He watched in amusement as I pushed aside one box with a plethora of warning labels without a second thought.

"You're used to working with crazy stuff, aren't you?" He asked. "What did you work with when you were with the Space Pirates? Poisons?"

I shook my head. "Metroids."

"Bah. That's nearly as bad. Good thing those monsters are finally all gone."

I nodded even though I disagreed, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I'll see you later, Dr. B, after you're done with…whatever that is." He waved good-bye as the lab door shut behind him.

I set about unpacking the numerous crates. The pieces of Samus's suit had been triple-packed in various inert materials, carefully selected to keep the X alive but harmless. I did not unwrap the packaging; rather, I put it in a large enclosed dissection table, with a series of computerized controls on my side of the bio-shield. It had been created for lengthy study of hazardous bio-forms, those too dangerous even for dissection with protective clothing.

Once I had taken out all the pieces and set them on the table, I sealed the bio-shield and released a small mist of potent acid. This would destroy the packaging, but would have little or no effect on the X or Samus's suit. As the coverings melted away, the gelatinous forms of the X bubbled to the surface. I set to work putting the suit back together, making sure all the pieces were in place. It was meant to be a routine procedure, one of many simple controls a scientist puts in place to ensure there has not been even the slightest little change. But as I neared completion, I realized that a small piece was missing, near the back of the neck.

At first I thought it possible that it had gotten lost before Samus's body had been reclaimed by the BSL. She had been shot out of her ship at high speed, and likely pelted with debris when her ship crashed into an asteroid field. After all, I would not have been able to determine that she was missing a piece earlier, as she had been lying on her back in the medic room.

I consulted the list of pieces that I had downloaded from the shipping crates to my hand-computer. To my surprise and dismay, I saw the missing piece listed. It had been there when the BSL scientists had packed everything away; where was it now?

I carefully inspected the crates for any holes. Nothing. Now I began to wonder if the piece had literally gotten up and walked away. The hominid scientists liked to joke about such things when they misplaced something, but this was no mere inanimate object.

I locked down the bio-shield and ran out the door, in search of Dr. Almar.

As I ran through the hallways, I passed a hominid sprinting the other way. I thought nothing of it until I heard shouts and saw a little knot of security personnel running after him. It struck me as unusual that more than one of them would be needed; I had never seen so much as a fistfight among the hominids on this station. But I had no time to think about petty human crimes. I ran to the holding chamber where the etecoons and dachoras lived; Dr. Almar had promised to fill in for me while I examined the X.

She was not there. "Have you seen Dr. Almar?" I asked the dachora that spoke for the others.

_She left quickly, in great distress,_ said the dachora. _She left the small box that they all carry._

I picked up her hand-computer from the desk. I searched through her messages, examining the most recent ones.

- _MALMAR 18:46:38 u know the psscd_

_- SJENKINS 18:47:05 u cant come here_

_- MALMAR 18:49:58 the x are out I need metroids_

_- SJENKINS 18:50:42 u make it worse_

_- MALMAR 18:51:50 FCK IT GIVE ME NOW_

_- MALMAR 18:55:15 SAM?_

_- SJEKNINS 18:56:33 psscd Rest Area 149AC46B12_

The messages ended there with no explanation. I looked at the current time: 19:45:28. The last message was from almost an hour ago.

I picked up my own hand-computer. "Request location. Subject: Dr. Almar." A map of the BSL came up on the screen, with a small dot labeled MA325. It showed her in a location I had never been before. I turned to the dachora. "I'm going to lock down this room. I am not sure what is happening, but it seems dangerous. I am going to look for Dr. Almar."

_Good luck and take care_, the dachora replied.

* * *

I had the presence of mind to stop at my quarters, where I picked up the small arm cannon that Siskin had given me. I ran through the corridors, following the map on my hand-computer. I had not gone long before I found smears of hominid blood on the walls and on the floor. Strangely, I saw no corpses.

_Of course not_, I thought to myself._ The X takes over its host before it kills it. _There had to be at least one infected hominid on the station. I remembered the man I had passed in the hall and hurried faster through the halls.

I turned a corner and skidded to a halt as a young woman lurched toward me. She clutched at her chest, bloody fingers scoring the skin, as if she were trying to tear something out of her own body. She saw me and raised the small hand weapon she carried. Without thinking I raised my own weapon and shot her. She fell to the ground, body twitching as if something were trying to escape. I did not stay to find out what it was. This was the second hominid I had seen behaving strangely in just a few minutes; how many had the X already infected?

Finally I reached a nondescript locked door, which requested a passcode through my hand-computer. I entered the code from Dr. Almar's messages. The door opened, and I quickly ran inside, making sure the door locked behind me.

I immediately felt blasted by cold air. Condensation sparkled around the walls. My breath misted in front of me. It was not too cold for me to handle, though it probably would give a hominid like Dr. Almar frostbite in a short period of time. I suppressed the urge to call her name; I did not know what could be lurking in the shadows of this place.

I turned another corner and almost stumbled over a body stretched across the floor. Its skull had been shattered so I almost did not recognize her. Dr. Almar lay motionless on the floor, clutching a handgun. She had shot herself in the face.

_But why?_ I turned over her corpse, shocked and dismayed. Despite the cold room, her body was still slightly warm. If only I had come a few minutes sooner! Why had she not contacted me? What had she hoped to accomplish?

I heard a sickening sound, a slurpy bubble coming from the body. I looked down in horror to see a gelatinous ooze grasping my cybernetic arm. With a shout I bashed my arm against the wall, but the creature merely crawled further up like an ameoba, searching for something other than metal.

Without a second thought I blasted my cybernetic arm off with my good hand, then sprinted in the opposite direction down the hall. Completely oblivious to the pain, I ran toward the hangar. I had to get a ship and pilot it to Federation HQ, to find Samus and warn everyone else.

A scene of utter destruction lay before me in the hangar. The few remaining ships lay in ruins, acrid smoke floating past the overloaded air filters. Bodies lay scattered across the floor, several of them in pieces. Some of them were infected hominids that had been taken down before they could claim more victims. Among them were the unlucky few that had missed the last of the ships and been shot by the survivors as they tried to squeeze in.

There was no escape for me here. I turned around and headed for the communications room. I had to send out a distress signal, if one hadn't been sent already. Hopefully I could hide somewhere until Samus came. But as I passed by the labs, the entire station shuddered with a huge explosion. It threw me to the ground, pelting me with bits of wall and floor.

I struggled to my feet, and my heart leaped as I heard the familiar ring of Chozo metal. She had arrived already? Had she been on her way back anyway? "Samus!" I called out. "Samus, I am over here!" I waved at the cloudy figure that emerged from the dust.

Immediately I knew something was wrong. This individual walked with an odd, halting gait. It swung its head around in a fluid, almost robotic motion. As the dust began to settle, I could see through its visor - a Thing with no eyes. Yet it saw me and lifted Samus's arm cannon.

I barely dodged the blast. Scrambling to my feet, I climbed one of the higher walls and dug my claws into the ceiling, moving over the Thing's head. It set off more blasts after me, and I had to fall to the ground soon afterward, landing heavily on my fragmented arm. But as I fled down the hall, the Thing did not give chase. It turned around and walked with the same slow, deliberate steps. I heard a high, human scream, suddenly cut off with another shot from the arm cannon.

I stumbled through the corridors, finally reaching a relatively quiet room, where I struggled to catch my breath. My head swam with everything I had seen in just a few short minutes. Somehow the X had managed to take over Samus's suit. Now it was running around the station, destroying everything in its path.

Possibly even the real Samus, if she came to investigate.

I picked myself up off the floor and headed back to the communications room. I had to warn her about what was waiting for her at the station.


	20. Chapter 20

As I ran toward the communications room, three hominids met me as they ran in the opposite direction. As soon as they saw me, they stopped in their tracks and raised their weapons. "There it is! The Space Pirate! Kill it!"

I leapt to the side as the fired, crawling up the wall and then onto the ceiling, as well as I could with my damaged arm. The shorted-out wires sent conflicting messages to my brain, so at random intervals I felt as if I were being tickled, stabbed, or caressed. One of the hominids hit my good arm and I lost my grip.

I fell to the floor and the three of them surrounded me. "This is your fault, Pirate! Now you're going to pay for it!"

Several thoughts flashed through my brain at once. They thought I was responsible for this plague. I was not, but there was no way I could convince them otherwise before they shot me. I could not fault them for thinking this way, their perception warped by fear. And yet I could not let them kill me, either.

I raised my arm and fired. Their frail hominid bodies, without armored casing, were no match for even a glancing shot. My _I_ screamed at me as I left the bloody mess in the hallway. You should not have killed them, it said. They were innocent. They were mistaken.

I countered that there was no other way. I was not responsible for their deaths, that was the fault of the X. Guilt, I realized. I was feeling guilt. I had to kill them because I could not find another way. Once again my mind searched for answers in my "moral compass". What would Samus have done? Had she ever killed another hominid?

Thoughts of Samus spurred me on faster. I raced through the hallways, dodging more panicked hominids that gave me no notice. As I ran, I noticed more damage, signs of blasting from a very powerful weapon. Perhaps the Thing had come this way. I slowed slightly, straining my sound organs for the ring of Chozo metal.

And then, a dead end. Where there had once been a doorway, now there was only an enormous hunk of twisted metal. Not just the door, but a good part of the ceiling as well. I could not push it aside, and my arm cannon barely dented it.

What now? I could not reach the communications room. I could not hope to dodge the Thing forever - it appeared to attack anything living, and the hominids would not last long. I had to hide somewhere, and hope to intercept Samus when she came to the station. But where?

She had to come in the hangar first, I reasoned. She did not have her usual ship, and as chaotic as the hangar was, it could still function in its original purpose. I retraced my steps back, but as I did, I came upon a new problem.

I began to see creatures, organisms that had been freed in the chaos from the labs. Some of them fell dead when I hit them with my weapon, and they stayed dead. But others shifted shape, and I had to dodge the globules of X that attacked me. In the rubble of battle, I pried out pieces of thick metal, bending them and fusing them to my exoskeleton with a small torch I found in one of the repair bays. Not as good as Elite shielding perhaps, but it would give me a split second to scrape the X off with another shard of metal and hurl it away. It could not be damaged by my arm cannon, yet it took the X a surprisingly long time - several seconds - to realize that it was holding tight to an inorganic, inanimate object.

I clinked and clanked down the hallways, finding fewer people and more corpses. An eerie quiet fell on the station, unhindered by the background hum of machinery. I stood silently in the middle of one of the halls, realizing that I was quite possibly the only sentient being left alive. It was a cold, lonely feeling, and it made me miss Samus even more.

Just as I stepped forward to continue on, the entire station shuddered, the background hum winding down and the loud click of numerous doors locking at once. I stood tense, waiting in the silence for something to happen. The emergency lights clicked on, but I did not see or hear any threats. I waited.

Nothing happened.

Puzzled, I wondered what could have shut down the system this way. It appeared to be a controlled safety measure, so it was probably not the work of the Thing or the X. Had a hominid survived? It would make sense for him or her to put the place in lockdown, though I had seen the Thing easily break through walls.

I decided to wait this out. Either I would die at the hands of the Thing, or Samus would come. There were really only two outcomes; with the doors locked, the X could not enter the room I was in. All I could do was try to endure until Samus came. I tried to think more about that, and less about the Thing.

When I had been with the Others, shutting down one's mind to await further orders was simple. The Others can stand around for hours or even days if necessary. They don't get tired, anxious, or bored. I, however, had to deal with the downsides of my sentience. It reminded me of when I had been confined at Federation HQ, and I attempted to use the same tactics to keep my mind busy.

After what seemed like an eternity, I heard some of the doors unlock. Not sure what to expect, I huddled down in the corner where I had been hiding. One of the doors opened, and I heard the ring of Chozo metal on the floor.

The steps were a peculiar, loping gait that could only belong to one person. As the shadowy figure ahead of me paused, looked around, I called out with relief and joy. "Samus!"

She whirled round. "Dr. B, you're alive!" When I reached her she provided a "hug" so powerful I thought it would crack my exoskeleton. "I'm so glad to see you! Aside from a handful of etecoons and dachoras, I haven't seen a single living thing not contaminated with the X."

"Samus, there is more than just the X. There is a Thing, made of the X, that has your armor…"

"Yes, the SA-X. I know. I've seen it," she said with the slightest hint of worry in her voice.

"It has a name? Is it sentient?" I demanded, fear washing over me.

"Sentient? No, I don't think so, not any more than the rest of the X," she told me. "The ship's computer…it called the Thing the SA-X. The computer is guiding me through this place. It's kind of a pain, though I have to admit it's quicker than doing it myself. It's the computer that unlocked the doors. Well, some of them. I unlocked these myself."

"So we have an ally?"

"Of sorts. Come on, I have to go to one of the navigation rooms, it'll tell me what to do next." She paused and gave me an odd look. "Interesting armor."

"I had to make do with what I could find."

"You did pretty well. Let's go."

"But…your suit…its weapons…"

"The Federation has been giving me replacements as fast as they can make them. Not nearly as good as the originals, but it's all I have until I take down the SA-X." She spoke as if her victory was a certainty. Her confidence bolstered my own and steeled my resolve. I followed her out of the room.

She walked up to one of the terminals used to communicate with other parts of the station in case of an emergency. With the shutdown, my hand-computer was useless, though it stood to reason that she could communicate with her ship's computer if it was in the hangar.

_Samus, I did not authorize you to enter the Level 4 areas_, said the computer. I could immediately see why Samus did not like it. _You did not follow orders. Regardless, you need to go to the Nocturnal lab. There's a security robot acting strangely, and you need to get rid of it. Be careful. The SA-X is tracking you._

Then it paused, in such a humanlike way that for a moment I thought I sensed an _I_. But it was gone just as quickly. _Is that a Space Pirate?_

"I am not a Space Pirate. I am Dr. B." I decided that I didn't like the computer, either.

"He's with me," Samus told it. "Dr. B is in the Federation files."

_I see. Is your objective clear?_

"Yes."

_Then get moving. Go quickly and stay alive._

"Stupid computer," Samus muttered after we left the room.

As we entered the Nocturnal lab, I asked Samus, "Why is it concerned with a security robot? Shouldn't getting rid of the X and SA-X command more attention?"

"I don't know," Samus snapped in a tone I had not heard since Tallon IV. "I think that stupid computer's giving me the runaround. It tells me that the Federation is giving me weapons as fast as it can, yet I found a Wave Beam equivalent without it."

We could not talk much more after that, for the air filled thick with creatures, most of them under the X's influence. Samus took care of them with little trouble, though I was startled to see that the X had no effect on her at all!

"Side effect of the Metroid antibodies," she told me with a grin. "I'm immune for life. Thanks, Dr. B."

"In that case," I said as I warily eyed a crawling mammal to my left, "I would request that you do your best to assist me, as I have no such protection."

She laughed. "That goes without saying."

As we moved deeper into the lab, we came up to the door where I had found Dr. Almar. "What's in there?" Samus asked.

"Not sure. Dr. Almar went there to find some remedy for the X. But when I got in, I found her dead, with one of the X on her body."

"She was possessed?"

"No. I don't think the X will go to a dead host. She killed herself before the X could take over."

Samus stared at the door for a while. "We'll get in later. First I need to take care of that robot."

The security robot proved to be short work for Samus. Again, I wondered why the computer seemed concerned about it. As we returned to the door, Samus shot her Wave Beam through it, disabling the lock. _Warning! No entry without authorization_, the security computer admonished, but of course Samus paid no attention.

\ I followed her as she walked slowly through the corridors, weapon arm held to the ready. "It's colder in here," she noted.

"You can tell?"

"Somewhat." She gingerly stepped around Dr. Almar's body. The X was no longer there.

_Warning! No entrywithout authorization,_ the computer stated. It hadn't stopped since we'd entered.

"Shut _up_," Samus muttered. She turned a corner, and I heard her gasp. "Dr. B!"

I stumbled in, my weapon arm raised. "What? What is it?"

Her eyes open in shock, all she could do was point. "_Metroids!_"

I could only stare. There had to be dozens of larva just in one container, and several more containers against the wall. As we moved further into the sector, we found even more Metroids, in various adult stages. "How…how is this possible?" Samus demanded, turning to me. "I thought…I thought the cure you gave me was made of the last one!"

"It doesn't make sense," I said more to myself than to her, my mind reeling. "If the Tallon IV specimens weren't stable, and you killed all the ones on SR388...it was just that hatchling left…"

Suddenly a memory returned to me, one I had blocked from my mind since Ridley's destruction of Ceres. I had come in to take a sample, and when I opened the door, someone was already there…

"Lydia!" I cried so loud that Samus actually jumped. "Lydia took a sample of the hatchling as well! All of these must have been bred from the same cell sample!"

"All of them?" Samus stared at the Metroids in disbelief. "What would the Federation want with Metroids? It hired me to kill them all…"

Suddenly a loud boom rent the air, followed by the crash of breaking glass. Both of us turned on our heels and ran toward the ruckus. Samus stopped short, and I stared at the scene over the shoulder. "The SA-X! It freed the Metroids! But why?"

"It's trying to kill them," I explained as the not-Samus fired on the dozens of screeching Metroids.

"Well, I'll get my suit back, anyway," she said defiantly, and fired on the SA-X that was too busy fighting Metroids to take notice. But only a few moments passed before the Metroids overpowered it, seizing it and throwing it to the ground. The SA-X disappeared, leaving only a Federation arm cannon behind.

"It's not the original! It must have made a copy of itself!" I exclaimed.

"A copy?" Samus demanded. "You mean there are _more_ of these things?"

The loudest alarm I had ever heard blasted our sensory organs. _Sixty seconds to Restricted Lab detachment_, stated the perpetually calm computer voice, totally out of place with the blaring alarm and shrieking Metroids.

"The door, Dr. B!" Samus shouted, as if I needed to be told. We both sprinted through the corridors, swatting angry Metroids as we ran. We both leaped through the bay doors, and as they shut behind us, we could hear the muffled explosions as the lab separated itself for self-destruction. We both watched from the windows as it pulled away from the station and got caught in the planet's orbit, destroying itself in a blinding explosion.

For a long time neither of us said anything, merely watching the stars go by. Finally, Samus took a deep breath and said, "Oh, I can't wait for that computer's explanation for _this _one._"_


	21. Chapter 21

Samus and I ran through the halls, stopping only when we reached the next communications room. Samus banged on the control board, muttering to herself, "All right, machine, you better have a good story behind this."

_Samus, you shouldn't have done that,_ it said. _You ignored your orders._

She unleashed a barrage of frustration-words. "You corrupted hunk of metal, what the hell are you talking about? There were _Metroids_ in there, Metroids! What on earth is the BSL doing with them?"

"It was Lydia who provided the sample, wasn't it?" I demanded. "She stole it and sold it, just as she stole Oltar's work earlier. The Federation probably didn't even know a Metroid survived Samus's purge until she contacted them."

_The Space Pirate is correct_, the computer stated, ignoring both our shouts of "Dr B!". _Lydia contacted Federation headquarters with an offer. She knew that even though the official line of the Federation was the destruction of all Metroids, there was another faction that wanted to raise them. What you saw in that lab was a breeding facility…for peaceful purposes only, you understand._

"What possible purpose could they have?" I threw a few frustration-words of my own at the computer. I felt angry enough to explode, and the frustration-words diffused that anger ever so slightly. I wanted to break the computer, but its ship was the only way off the station. "Metroids are only good for hunting the X. And if not for the Federation's meddling, the X would not be a threat at all!"

The computer ignored me. _Samus, there will be a price to pay for this. You will have to contact the Federation. I don't know how they will take it, but regardless…you need to leave. The other SA-X will come looking for you. There are too many for you to fight off at once. Head back to the ship, but check in with me just before you reach the hangar. We don't want to give any of them a free ride._

"Whatever," Samus muttered, smacking the control board. "Come on, Dr. B, let's see how many of those things we can hit on the way back." She opened the next door. "I hate that damned computer. At least with a human CO I'm dealing with a person, not some machine obsessed with duty."

"Samus," I said thoughtfully as we made our way through the halls, "The computer spoke strangely. It had pauses in its speech, like a hominid. And it spoke almost as if it were trying to decide what to say, instead of merely relaying information."

She turned to stare at me. "Are you saying that thing has an _I?"_

"I am not completely sure. I would need to give it more thought. I could not sense an _I_, yet it did not seem completely mechanical to me."

We both heard the echo of Chozo metal on the floor. To our right, one of the SA-X walked towards us. If it were sentient, I would have said it walked with a leisurely pace. But it was just one part of a collective, like the Others, and therefore had no emotion. It zeroed in on our coordinates with no more and no less malice than a homing missile.

Samus blasted the thing with a renewed fury, taking out all the anger she could not direct to the computer onto the SA-X. For its part, the Thing paid no attention to me, completely focused on Samus. I used this to my advantage, blasting its helmet from behind to distract it as Samus attacked from the front. For several tense minutes it fought us, until Samus finally blewit apart. She stood over it for a few moments, breathing hard, then suddenly snapped to attention. "Screw the damn computer. There's no way the Federation can get rid of these things. I'm going to cut down every last one."

Suddenly the lights dimmed, the hum of the machinery wound down, and loud clicks echoed through the halls as doors bolted. We both stared at each other. "Do you think it heard us?" I asked.

"Let's find out," she said in a clipped voice, one she only used when something was about to die.

In the nearest communication room, Samus banged on the control panel again. "Explain yourself, machine!"

_I have secured you here for your own safety_, the computer stated.

"I'm not an idiot. I can handle those things. Why is the station in lockdown?"

The computer said nothing for a long time. I felt the ghost of an _I _again, fading in and out of my senses. _Samus, you are secured in here to prevent you from engaging the SA-X. You were not supposed to pick up the Wave Beam, the Federation sent it but then sent instructions forbidding me to reveal its location…_

"What on earth for?" Samus shouted. "What possible reason would the Federation have in preventing me from destroying those things?"

_The Federation believes that the SA-X has endless potential. It has put together the prototype of an army of Samus Arans, each one controlled by the Federation. Unlike a bounty hunter, these would follow orders exactly…_

"These things don't follow orders!" Samus kept raising her weapon arm and then jerking it down, as if trying to prevent herself from shooting the computer. "They're just a bunch of automatons bent on taking over all they can find!"

"The Federation does not trust me, yet it wants to add these to its army?" I asked, incredulous. "They are just like the Others…and the Others and I know the Federation has attempted to reprogram both Space Pirates and Metroids to bend to its will. Both ended in failure."

_Regardless, I have been instructed to keep you here. The Federation will be here shortly. They will both pick you up and take care of the SA-X._

Samus stood silently for a long time. I could tell she was thinking, so I said nothing to disturb her. Although her face was almost expressionless, her armor hiding any kind of body language, I could tell she was gathering her resolve for something dangerous. For something she felt she needed to do, irrespective of the danger. "Dr. B."

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the battle with Mother Brain, on Zebes?"

"Of course," I said. Suddenly I realized she was trying to say something important without the computer comprehending our conversation.

Samus turned to me. "Will you stand with me again?"

I didn't know what her plan was, but I understood what the end result would probably be. "I will."

She gave me a grateful look, and turned back to the doorway. "All right. Then just follow me."

Suddenly the doors of the communication room slammed shut. Samus screamed in rage and unleashed a volley of blasts on the door. "How did it know?" I demanded of no one in particular.

"Open the doors!" she barked at the computer.

_I have been ordered to keep you here. The Federation…_

"The X will kill them all! They'll take over the whole galaxy! Don't you see what will happen, Adam?"

Both the computer and I fell silent. "It has a name?" I asked her. "Why didn't you tell me? Why does it have a name if it is not sentient?"

_Who is Adam? _the computer asked. I looked to Samus for an explanation. Why did she address it with a name it did not know?

"A friend of mine," Samus muttered, sullen.

_You are planning to activate the self-destruct mechanism. You realize that this would be a suicide mission._

"Whatever it takes," she snarled. "What must be done, must be done."

_Would this Adam sit in a safe control room and order you to your death?_

"He would know that sometimes it must be done. He made that sacrifice himself once…"

My mind reeled. So this was the answer to the riddle she had given me back on Tallon IV, right after I first met her. She had been surprised that the Others in command gave no protection to those below them. It was the duty of the ones of higher rank, she said, to protect those under their orders. Even at the risk of their own life…

_Your Adam sacrificed himself for you. How foolish…_

"What do you know, machine!" Samus directed a blast of wrath at the computer. "You have no idea what it means…why he…"

_Samus, do you realize that if you destroy this station, you will not destroy the X? They still exist on SB388. Without Metroids, they will be free to travel the galaxy on the first host they can find._

Her face contorted in puzzlement. "What…"

I suddenly felt the presence of another _I_ fill the room, as if had been sleeping and suddenly awakened. _Sacrifice is a fool's drama if there is another way out, Samus. Your Adam made the wrong choice. Listen carefully. You must first change the station's orbit so that it will enter SB388's atmosphere and crash on the planet. That is the only way to destroy the X._

Samus's eyes widened. "Are you…"

_Change the station's coordinates, then get back to the ship. Move as quickly as you can, and stay alive. That's an order! Any objections, Lady?_

"No sir!" Suddenly animated, Samus beckoned to me as the doors opened. "Come on, Dr. B!"


	22. Chapter 22

"Samus!" I called after her. "Samus, what are you doing?"

"Changing the station's orbit!" she called back. "You gotta keep up, Dr. B! We don't have much time!"

"Samus, _stop!"_

She skidded to a sudden halt, surprisingly quickly considering she was wearing several hundred pounds of equipment. "What? What is it?" she demanded, her cannon held at the ready for any threat.

I caught up to her, placing my hand on her cannon. "Samus, stop and think. Why are you doing this?"

She didn't even stop to catch her breath. "So I can ram the station into the planet and…"

"_No_, Samus, why did you suddenly begin to trust the computer?"

"Wh-" She blinked, then frowned at me. "It's a human thing, Dr. B. You wouldn't understand. Now, let's go…"

I pulled her back. Certainly, she could have yanked free, but she had known me long enough to understand there must be some serious reason behind my resistance. "Samus, you had an emotional revelation regarding the computer. I understand this. But you can't go charging into its plan without thinking."

"You were perfectly fine with getting killed before! Besides, it's Adam, so I know he's…"

"The computer is _not_ Adam, Samus. That's the whole problem with…"

"No, no, it is! The Federation downloads the minds of its greatest leaders into…"

"_Samus!_ Listen for a moment! You are letting your emotions run away with you!"

She stopped talking, lowered her arm cannon. "All right, I'm listening."

I took a deep breath. "Samus, I believe your statement that the Federation found a way to preserve the minds of certain leaders. I even believe that this computer thought and acted as your friend Adam might have done, if he was still alive. But he is _not_ alive, Samus. The computer is _not_ Adam. It is merely a copy."

She wavered. "But…"

"Samus, there are thousands of the Others that have the same DNA as I do, have been programmed with the same knowledge of the Space Pirates. We are clones, but that does not mean we are the same."

"Well, of course not. You're the only one that is sentient…"

"That's not what I mean. Samus…no copy is ever the same as the original. If I were to copy Chozo writing from the walls on Tallon IV, and input it into a computer, it might be the same words…but it would not be the same writing. It would not have been carved there by Chozo hands."

"I…" Anger flashed across her face. "Dr. B, you don't understand. You've never lost…"

"Yes I have, Samus," I told her firmly. "I lost Dr. Reyman. You remember how I behaved immediately after our escape from Ceres. Even if the Federation stored some part of his mind or body, or even both, Dr. Reyman is gone forever. And so is Adam."

She looked at the floor, her voice wavering ever so slightly. "Why are you doing this, Dr. B?"

"You need to be clear-headed for this mission, Samus. We won't get a second chance."

"I…" She wavered, staring at something I couldn't see. "You're right…he told us, dead heroes do no one any good. Anyone lost was a failure, his failure. That's why he…"

She stood silently for a moment, then her head jerked up and she stared at me with deep resolve. "I understand, Dr. B."

"Do you still want to follow through with the computer's plan?"

"Yes." She nodded, as if to confirm it to herself. "It doesn't matter if the computer is Adam or not. Its plan is the best one we have…and we don't have enough time to think of another one."

"Understood. Lead on."

* * *

The comings and goings of the SA-X and other creatures had altered the BSL station beyond recognition. We ran through blasted hallways, picked our way over gaping chasms, and squeezed through collapsed corridors. One of the elevator shafts we needed could not be brought back on-line, so I instructed Samus to ride on my back as I made my way down the walls of the shaft.

False Others roamed the halls, attacking us without purpose. Samus may not have noticed, but these things were even more empty than the true Others. There was no malice, only a driving need to consume. And that, to me, seemed even more frightening.

Finally, we reached the command station that would allow us to change the BSL's orbit. I must confess that I was not surprised to find another SA-X waiting there for us.

"Just die, you corrupted piece of junk!" Samus snarled at it after several missed shots.

I fired upon it, but it always moved nimbly out of my way, and always focused on Samus. It unleashed its own arm cannon on her, the bolts ramming into the walls. I could feel the room becoming dangerously unstable.

"Dammit, we don't have time for this!" Samus tackled the Thing and held it in a headlock, trying to rip its arm off. I grabbed one of its legs and shoved my own blaster into the armor at the back of the knee, hoping to reach whatever was inside.

Samus pulled at the Thing's head, finally wrenching it off. Blood splattered across the wall, red tinted with an unnatural hue of yellow. The head fell out of the helmet, a grotesque mockery of Samus's own face. It had no eyes, only masses of tissue where they should have been, and the mouth was merely a slit in the face. Her hair looked like short pointed quills.

She completely ignored the hideous bio-form and focused all her attention on the navigation computer. In no time at all the alarms began to sound. _Warning. Planetary impact imminent. Ten minutes to impact._

"Run like hell, Dr. B!" she yelled over the alarms, as if I needed to be told. "Computer Adam told me there's a ship waiting at the hangar!"

We both sped through the station even faster than we had gone before. I could hear Samus's ragged breathing beside me, and my own exoskeleton seemed heavier and heavier the more I ran. But we had not even a second to stop for breath.

I skidded to a halt at the entrance to the hangar, and Samus nearly rammed into me. I raised my hand and pointed at the hulking mass that blocked our exit. "Samus…an Omega Metroid!"

"Ohhh, you have got to be kidding me," she said as she raised her arm cannon. The Omega swiped at her with its enormous claws, opening its mouth to reveal fangs the length of my arm in its gaping maw. She unleashed volley after volley of fire upon it, and yet it didn't even flinch. "Dr. B, there's something funny with this one! What the hell is going on?"

"It's…it's some mutated form!" I exclaimed as I dodged the lethal claws to get a closer look. "It's bigger than the ones that the Others bred, and it's coloring is different!"

"Get…out…of…our…freaking…way!" Samus dodged and rolled, shooting at its mouth, its stomach, its rear.

With blinding speed, the Omega Metroid slashed Samus across the chest. She went flying into the wall of the hangar. I fired on the creature as it moved toward her, but of course my little blaster did nothing. "Samus! Get up!"

"I…I can't!" I could hear a slight edge of panic in her voice as the creature roared over the doomed ship's countdown. "I can't move! It's done something to my suit…Dr. B!"

I attempted to step in front of Samus, but the Omega merely slapped me out of the way, its claws scraping against my exoskeleton. I staggered to my feet, watching in horror as the Omega raised its arm for a finishing blow.

Suddenly the blast of an arm cannon sent it staggering back, its hand encased in ice. "Samus! Excellent shot!"

"It wasn't me!" We both turned in surprise and shock to see the headless SA-X stumbling across the hangar floor. It fired more ice beams, the X's all-consuming need to kill Metroids driving it on. I ran to Samus's side, pulling her to her feet. "Let's get the hell out of here!" she shouted, and I pulled her toward the sole remaining ship in the hangar.

We nearly fell over each other inside the ship, and I almost fired on something that darted over my head. I lowered my arm when I realized that it was only the Etecoons and Dachoras from the lab. _Well done_, said the Dachora. _Now, it is time for us to leave._

"I've got the controls," Samus managed to stammer out between gasping breaths. She sat down at the panel and mashed the buttons. The ship rose and turned around, and we all lurched backward as it sped away from the ship. Just before impact, I could see the SA-X and the Omega Metroid still fighting.

We watched from a safe distance as the BSL station collided with SR388, creating a massive shockwave. And then, there was nothing left but debris.

"Well, I guess that's the end of the Metroids," Samus said after a long silence.

The computer panel sputtered to life, and I recognized the _I_ that had just entered the room. _Well done, Samus. And Dr. B, of course_, said the computer-Adam.

Samus took off her helmet. "I don't say this often, but I really need a vacation."

_Samus, you are not in immediate danger, but you cannot relax just now. The Federation knows that you went against their orders, and destroyed their projects. Not only will they never hire you again, but you are now a criminal in their eyes. If you meet up with them again, they will have you arrested._

"Screw the Federation," Samus grumbled, rubbing her forehead. "I think I've had enough of them to last a very long time."

_You must be careful. They will be looking for you. They may even send other bounty hunters after you._

"That's good to know, Adam, but that's not really something I'm going to worry about," she said. "There's no real safe haven in this part of the galaxy." She sighed as she sat back in the chair. "It's going to be a hell of a lot harder finding people who can help fix my suit and my ship, though."

"We could explore other parts of the galaxy," I suggested. "I'm certain that we could find someone willing to pay a bounty hunter for one thing or another. You certainly have plenty of experience."

Samus threw her head back and laughed. "You're absolutely right, Dr. B. Agh…I have to admit I never planned for this. It's going to take some getting used to. I've always been able to count on the Federation for a break here and there…I'll have to find something else."

Struck by a sudden inspiration, I said, "Samus, have you ever attempted to contact any remaining Chozo?"

She looked at me thoughtfully. "I've tried in the Federation- and Pirate-controlled areas of the galaxy. But they were accomplished starfarers, and there are lots of areas that haven't been explored by either the Federation or the Pirates…"

_That sounds like the most reasonable path of action_, said the Adam-computer. _Samus, Dr. B, I am willing to assist you in any way I can._

Samus grinned. "Well, that settles it. You ready, Dr. B?"

I nodded. "Always."

**The End**


End file.
